Windswept
by pixeljam
Summary: Seto Kaiba may be the multi-billionaire of Japan, youngest CEO ever, and one of the most brilliant people alive, but when his company is failing, even he knows he needs help. Even so, the future of his company lies in the hands of a person he has no interest in, and barely even likes, but then again, when does Seto Kaiba really like anyone?
1. Phone Calls and Failures

**I know what you're all probably thinking. "Pixeljam, you told us you'd have a new story up in the beginning of December. What happened?!"**

**Well...a lot of stuff did. I could give you a whole list: I thought I was failing Physics and Calculus so school started to pick up its pace, I had my class play, I was due to set up a Mock Trial scrimmage and start working on my witness' script, my sister was sick for a week and a half so I had double chores, I have an extremely large project due by the second week of January which I had to talk a lot with my teachers about, and I went on vacation with my family and forgot to bring my laptop...**

**I was going to start posting there, and then I realized that what I had saved on my flashdrive was the old, unedited copy of the story, so I couldn't.**

**All in all, I am very sorry for the wait. If you are following me from the Kid Icarus archive to here and have no idea what Yu-Gi-Oh! is, PM me or something and I'll send you what might be helpful for you to understand this story.**

**Other than that, please enjoy! This was my NaNoWriMo story, which I wrote in a month, so it might be a little rough. So please go easy on me! I'm brainstorming right now on my KI sequel and it's a little slow going, but I think you'll all like it! **

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Seto Kaiba was in a grumpy mood, but then again, when was he not?

Seto Kaiba, multi-billionaire teenager, had everything going for him, and he knew it. He was, for one, the most powerful man in all of Japan, as well as the youngest CEO in Japanese history. At age eighteen, he was as ruthless a business man as any of the forty or fifty year olds who came into his office, maybe more so. He had grown up knowing that the world was harsh, and now acted upon that.

But despite all these things, Seto had one major problem.

Seto's company, Kaiba Corporation, KaibaCorp for short, was the main technology distributor of not only Japan, but around most of the world. His company designed and created the latest computer components and shipped them off to the major companies that used them, which mostly consisted of computer companies and dueling technology distributes.

But with KaibaCorp doing so well, greedy hands had already been trying to get a hold of Seto's company. Many people had tried to sneak their way into KaibaCorp, disabling security and attempting to get their hands on designs to sell. Unfortunately for them, Seto hadn't become CEO when he was twelve for nothing. He was extremely savvy when it came down to business and protection. He had the best security that either money could buy or create, along with stashes of bodyguards on call. For Seto Kaiba, money was no object, and he was ready to use it whenever necessary in order to protect what needed guarding.

Even so, KaibaCorp was slowly failing. Only two people had ever managed to actually take KaibaCorp completely over, but that was enough. These men had taken control for a matter of days, but in those days, everything seemed to have gone wrong that could have done so. Stocks fell, production slowed to a bare minimum, computers shut down; only when the actual CEO returned would the company flow smoothly. And even if the money for the company wasn't so bad, the reputation of his company was shot.

Seto leaned back in the couch he sat on, his brain running at a million cells a second. The living room around him fogged over as his eyes lost focus. Nothing seemed important now except the ideas flowing through his mind.

He needed something big, something that would spark the interest of both old and new customers. And he had that idea: KaibaLand, the amusement park that his company sponsored and built. Seto already owned just about one of everything, a company, a hospital, a few train systems, quite a few computer companies, and even a pet shop. But this amusement park was what really would get the attention of his supporters and customers.

The one problem that kept his plan from running as smoothly as honey was the advertising fact.

KaibaLand would be huge, the only amusement park in the world that would be a combination of dueling and rides.

_And free to underprivileged children_, Seto thought with a half smile.

But what really was bugging him was the advertising fact. Seto wanted some of the first guests of KaibaLand to be duelists. Seto was smart. He knew just how obsessive duelists were about their sport. If there was a new product out that had to do with dueling, the duelists of Domino City would be the first to try it out. It was one of the things that kept KaibaCorp so steady: duelists were always looking for the next best thing.

Seto wanted the duelists to be the first to get the scoop about KaibaLand, but so far, his minor advertisements hadn't been doing so well. His problem was that non-duelists read many of the papers that Seto had been putting his adevertisements in, and most non-duelists saw nothing great in an amusement park with dueling attractions. In fact, they usually skipped by the page altogether.

Seto drew a hand through his chocolate brown hair. It was late, but then again, there was rarely a night Seto was not up late. He grabbed his mug and swallowed another burning hot mouthful of coffee. Seto would not sleep until he came up with a solution, and Seto could stay awake a long time. Even the comforts of the couches he sat on would most likely not be enough to sway him to sleep.

_Ring…_

If Seto hadn't been the calm, cool person he was, he probably would have jumped out of his skin as the phone broke the silence of night into pieces. He glanced over to the cushion next to him, where his sleek iPhone sat. Seto always seemed to have the latest technology, no matter what. He was always given samples of the newest products his company was creating, as well as the finished product from the companies he had under the wing of KaibaCorp. His iPhone was nothing new; he would probably be getting something newer sometime soon.

_Ring…_

Seto picked up the phone and set it down almost immediately after he glanced at the name. Yugi Muto…that stupid idiot of a dueling champion. Why was he calling Seto, and at this hour? Yugi had been Seto's one standing rival for over a year now, and Seto _still_ had nothing to pull on him. Every time that boy managed to duel someone, it had something to do with saving the world, or magic, or Ancient Egypt. Why? That was exactly what Seto had been wondering for years now.

_Ring…_

Seto's patience was wearing thin. This was his third all-nighter…in a row. He probably should have been napping, but he was much too agitated for that. Both of his all-nighters he had pulled for the specific reason of brainstorming. But he was coming up flat.

_Ring…_

Seto snarled and whipped up the phone, holding it up to his ear. "What?!" Seto snapped, "Can't you figure out that when I don't pick up, I'm busy?!"

The voice at the end of the line was as high pitched and annoying as ever, and the fact that it was in a rather startled tone of voice made it even more obnoxious. "I'm sorry, Kaiba. I was hoping you weren't awake, so I could leave a message." He paused. "Are you alright, Kaiba? You sound kind of stressed."

"Yugi," Seto said through gritted teeth, fists clenched as though as soon as Yugi got off the line, he was going to punch his phone to pieces, "I'll have you know that I'm almost always awake. If you had a monstrous project to finish work on, a huge advertisement problem to fix, and a whole week ahead of you of sleepless nights and coffee, I believe you would be stressed out as well!"

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I AM PERFECTLY CALM!" Seto nearly screamed. Immediately, he snapped his mouth shut, inwardly screaming at himself. _Don't show weakness…_Seto nearly groaned aloud. That was probably one of the worst moves he had made in a long time. Seto breathed in slowly. He just needed to calm down. He was running on adrenaline and coffee; it was no wonder he was slightly frazzled.

"Oh, Kaiba! I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Seto bit his lower lip to keep from screaming more words of rage at the annoying fifteen year old on the other line. He breathed in deeply before answering, "_No thank you_, Yugi, I have this—."

Seto cut off, blinking. Wait…that would work…if Yugi wanted to be helpful, then maybe he just might be. Yugi might be a little kid and a wimpy one at that, but he was, as according to previous duels, the King of Games. Of course, Seto considered his own self to be so, but despite that fact, Yugi was an extremely powerful duelist, one that other duelists looked up to. So he might actually have some insight. Seto and Mokuba had been brainstorming for days now, and neither of them had come up with a good enough idea for this project. Maybe, just maybe, Yugi would be able to supply an answer.

Seto put on a more pleasant voice, though inside he still screamed. "Actually, Yugi, you _might_ just be able to help me."

"I'd love to! What do you need?" Yugi's voice on the other end was so cheerful, Seto had to keep himself from snorting and rolling his eyes.

"What forms of media do you read?"

There was a silence over the phone, a long one, before Yugi replied slowly, "Um…could you repeat that?"

The reason Seto had worded his question so was so that his pride would not take over and lose him this opportunity. The level of Seto's pride was extremely high: he preferred to do everything himself. He wouldn't even let his three professional grant writers send off a proposal without he himself checking over the work. So in this case, he took the time to convince himself that this was not _really_ asking for help; it was more of an insight thing.

"Media," Seto repeated, "Newspapers, magazines, newsletters…what do you personally read when it comes to the written news word on your spare time?"

Another long silence commenced on the other end of the line. Seto waited patiently for an answer. After a long time, one finally came.

"What do you want specifically? I mean, on what topic?"

"Dueling," Seto replied. Duel Monsters, his game of choice. He had basically invented the dueling of their time period. While KaibaCorp produced technology for computers and devices of the sort, Seto's true passion was in a strategic card game. KaibaCorp produced the technology for modern day dueling. Where there had once been a simple board for the game, Seto had invented a series of boards and handheld devices used to make Duel Monsters more interesting, using holographic technology to bring the game to life. Seto had mastered the game at a very young age, his cards being some of the most powerful in the game. Seto was the one person who had beat Yugi at Duel Monsters, but never in anything official, so Yugi still remained champion. "What do you read when it comes to dueling?"

"Why do you want to know?"

Seto's snarl returned. "I have no reason to tell you, Yugi."

Yugi's voice was as calm as ever. "I was just wondering so I could pick something specific. Like, do you want an interview or a specific article or—."

"An advertisement," Seto snapped, "I want an advertisement."

"Oh…so you want something a ton of duelists read?"

"Yes!" Seto had to keep from screaming. With this rate, he was going to wake up Mokuba.

"Duel Monsters Magazine."

"What?"

Seto could almost imagine Yugi shaking his wild tri-colored hair in disbelief. "I'm surprised at you, Kaiba, not knowing it."

"Well," Seto said through gritted teeth, "I prefer to work and not keep up with the latest gossip."

"Oh, they don't do gossip! They're probably the biggest company having to do with Duel Monsters behind KaibaCorp. They do interviews on the biggest duelists, write about the newest cards coming out from Industrial Illusions, and even advertise your products. Are you sure you've never heard of it? They call it DMM."

"D-M-M…" Seto rolled the word around, pondering it for a few seconds. He vaguely remembered seeing it on some paperwork for the companies that advertised dueling technology, but he had never taken the time to look it up into depth. He had also heard the name tossed around, but not enough to make him interested. "How do you know so much about this…magazine?"

"Besides reading it? They interviewed me."

This was not surprising to Seto in the slightest, seeing as Yugi was currently being called the greatest duelist that ever lived.

"If you want, I can get you connected to the journalist who did my story."

"I need an ad, not an interview," Seto blinked coldly.

"This journalist is the best that DMM can offer," Yugi's voice was smooth in a persuasive way, "She's amazing. After the interview with me, she was named Top Journalist of the company. She's one of the best there is."

Seto played with the idea for a while. On one hand, this could go seriously wrong and leave him in the dust, which would tick him off and cause people to get fired. On the other, if it did work, Seto would be able to advertise KaibaLand in one of the biggest dueling magazines, as well as it being written by this so-called "top journalist". He would have to look into this at some point.

Seto blinked, breathing deeply. "Fine," he said slowly, "Where is this "DMM"'s headquarters stationed? And where would I find this journalist?"

"San Francisco, California."

_America_, Seto thought. He almost shrugged. Next to Japan, America was the next biggest dueling country. Many of his products sold in America, but it seemed Japan was always above them in dueling technology. The duelists of Domino city, Japan, were a tight group. They took their dueling very seriously, and it seemed no American would ever top the obsession of dueling in Japan.

It would probably be a long job though, and that would mean leaving Mokuba home. Seto didn't have much of a problem with that. He would leave Roland to watch over Mokuba and make sure Seto's younger brother was keeping up with his homework and going to bed on time. Seto had left Mokuba at home before. It wasn't that big of a deal.

"How about," Yugi continued, "I call up the journalist for you, and I take you to meet her? You know, just to break the ice."

Seto rubbed his eyes, exhaustion slowly coming back over him. He took a sip of his cold coffee, swallowing the bitter dregs with annoyance. He really hated to have Yugi come with him, but he _did_ need someone to introduce him to the journalist; and if she and Yugi were buddies, that might give Seto some favor with the girl.

"Fine," Seto said slowly.

"When would it be a good time for me to come over so we can leave?"

"We'll take my jet," Seto said automatically, "and come here on Friday, after school." Seto ended the call without another word. Words were no longer necessary. He set down the phone and leaned on clasped hands, his eyes narrowing as he opened his mind and focused. Now was the time for deep thought.

**So, again, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to PM me. Tell me what you thought about this! How is it transitioning from Kid Icarus to Yu-Gi-Oh? Do you like it so far? Tell me what's up with this.**

**I have a bunch of other story ideas floating around. We'll see how well they go. I'm a little off right now because it's really late and my big bro and I are hosting a huge New Years party tomorrow, so that's why this message is a little short...the other ones will hopefully be longer. **

**Great to be back in action!**

**~Pixie**


	2. Blue-eyed Opportunity

**So, you're probably thinking, "If you already had this written, why the heck has it taken you so long to update?"**

**Well, it's midterms for my Beta and he's been extremely busy, so he hasn't had a lot of time to look over my work. But thank goodness he got this done! So thanks again, Dragonguy! I'm glad you liked this so much. :) **

**But yes, this whole story has already been written out due to the way it was done for NaNoWriMo, so I'm not going to change a whole lot in it. But thank you to the people who have been reviewing and telling me what you think! If any of you need any background info on the characters or anything, just let me know!**

* * *

"Miranda, can you hand me those pictures?"

A petite woman with short, sandy hair that hung just above her shoulders grabbed a stack of oddly shaped papers from a shelf and handed them swiftly to Gail. Gail immediately took the pictures and started setting them neatly on the boards that she had set her neatly printed columns on, trying different patterns and placements. She would gaze at one, then shake her head and try another combination.

"I really enjoy that picture," the petite woman said almost timidly, pointing to a clear shot of a duel.

Gail inspected the picture. The colors were indeed pretty, and the picture hardly fuzzy at all. Gail held it up to the light, squinting. "You think so?"

Miranda nodded slowly.

Gail smiled, setting the paper down. "Well, you haven't been my assistant since I got here for nothing! We'll use that one, then. Oh," she grabbed another picture, "and this one would look great in the middle of the second page." She laid the two pictures on the board, spreading out her work. With small pins, she secured each of the pictures and thin strips of words. "What do you think? Think the designers will have a problem with it?"

Miranda smiled. "When have the designers _ever_ had a problem with your work? Next, they'll be hiring you for editorial and design work!"

Gail snorted. "And give up driving around and looking for stories? As if!" She handed the board to the short woman. "Will you take this to Rob? I've got something else to look in to."

Miranda gently took the board, taking care not to spill any of the pictures or words off. "Will do!" She whirled around gracefully and took off in a speedy way between cubicles away from Gail's work space.

Gail smiled as she watched the woman go. Ever since Miranda had been assigned as Gail's personal assistant, Gail had found it extremely amusing that Miranda, who was so much older than Gail, was the assistant while Gail was the writer. Miranda had to almost be in her thirties while Gail was barely out of her teens, still in them if she wanted to be technical. Gail had started writing at very young, and after her college flop, had worked as a minor free-lance writer for a bunch of newspapers. Her current boss had looked through her writing and decided it was what his magazine needed, a fresh start. And so started Gail on her rise to the top. She had been hired about half a year ago, but her huge interviews had raised her to stardom.

Gail rushed to the elevator, hitting the button a fair few times. She felt like bouncing in delight, but she restrained herself. She had taken this job by convincing her boss that she would act like an adult would: in a cool and coordinated fashion. And so she did. Of course, being excited would be perfectly acceptable, but she still felt as though she should tone it down a bit. Gail was every bit the teenager than had written for her school newspaper, just doing something bigger.

As soon as the doors opened, Gail was inside and had pressed a button, number twelve. She felt a surge of pride. Not many people pushed that button every day.

"Having trouble with the printer?"

Gail flushed slightly, gazing down at herself. Black ink freckled her arms. It was true: the printer had spat at her a few times as she printed off her latest story. The man standing behind her handed her a handkerchief, which Gail gratefully took and began to rub the dark spots from her arms. "Thanks, Rob. By the way, Miranda's heading to your office right now with the design for my article."

"I'll be sure to take a look at my desk when I return," he said, straightening his jacket.

The designers always seemed to dress well. The men either wore suits or were extremely creative with their dress, same with the women. The women's clothing was always well chosen, their fashion sense impeccable.

Of all the designers at DMM, Rob was probably one of Gail's favorites. He was around his mid-forties and walked into work every day in a crisp suit and patent leathers, his salt-and-pepper hair gelled back and his mustache well trimmed. His rough, tanned face was usually in a smile, his eyes sparkling a crisp blue. But what Gail loved most about him was that he took her work seriously, and seemed to really like her style. The editors changed Gail's writing often enough, but the designers rarely ever made changes to her personal designs for her articles and work, but when they did, they did so with incredible creativity and flawless design.

"I believe this is your floor?" He said quietly as the doors opened.

"Yep!" she said as she bounced out into the hallway. She turned back quickly, holding out the kerchief.

Rob held up a hand. "You can return it to me later, after you've made yourself acceptable." The door closed on his smile, leaving Gail no choice but to shrug and start down the hallway.

The cream colored hallway walls were lined with pictures on one side and doors on the others. But these doors didn't lead to normal offices: they were left specifically for the best of each subsection. The top editors were here, the top designers, and a few freelance workers were even given places here to thank them for their work in the past, and in exchange, basically asking for more work for DMM in the future. But despite the fact that Gail shared this floor, she still felt as rush of pride every time she walked to the end of the hallway, to the warm wooden door in the corner: her door, the one with her name on a plaque in the front: Gail Addison Hanson, Top Journalist.

Gail slowly entered the room. Of all the offices on the twelfth floor, Gail was convinced that hers was the best. It was a large room, extremely large, and due to the fact that her office was in a corner and therefore two of her walls were completely made of windows, her room filled with light. It shone a golden yellow against the coffee-cream color of the painted wall. In one section of the room, she had set up a couch and a few arm chairs, perfect for closed interviews. Up on a wooden riser was her large desk, made of dark mahogany wood and her swivel chair. Her back was to most of the windows, but that was what her swivel chair was for: she used it mostly for when she was in desperate need of an idea, or even if she just needed a break. She would swirl around and look down from the huge building of DMM to the streets below. And if she looked past those, then her gaze was drawn to the ocean. Because of how close the building was to the sea, there were a fair number of storms, and Gail could forget about looking through her windows when the fogs came in, but when the sun shone, everything seemed to be perfect. Directly to the right of the door, the floor dipped slightly, leading down to where she usually talked to her clients. It was an oval shaped area cut out from the floor and set a step down. There sat a brown couch and an armchair of the same color, a couple coffee tables sitting there as well.

Gail let out a sigh and flopped down on the couch, long hair curling against her neck. The young woman grabbed a piece of her hair, lazily flipping it around in her fingers. Gail loved her hair. For one, it was extremely long, hanging down to her waist if she didn't pull it up the way she usually did in a high ponytail. Also, it was not one shade of blonde. She had actually counted the number of shades of blond in her hair at one point: seven. She had seven blonde colors in her hair, and all were natural: Gail had never dyed her hair before. When she was in high school and had to write her hair color on some document, she had, of course, put down blonde. But it had made her curious about her exact shade of blonde. So she had counted and named each shade specifically: white-blond, pale-blond, dirty-blond, blond, golden-blond, honey-blond, and dark-blond. Gail smiled and fingered her hair. She would have to get it cut eventually; the ends were starting to split and become shaggy and rough.

Gail may have been working for a huge company and have been the top journalist there, but she was almost a high schooler still at heart. At age nineteen, Gail was still young and fresh out of her partial college experience. She had an eye for a good story, and happened to be a very good writer, one of the only things that had gotten her the job she had now. Her rise to becoming Top Journalist was a longer story.

"Hanson!"

Gail leaped to her feet, adrenaline shooting through her body. "Yes, boss?"

A man walked through the threshold of Gail's door. He was a stout, middle aged man. Dark hair was close cropped against his head, his cheeks slightly puffy and his eyes dark. His suit was perfectly crisp, fitting him neatly, though his tie looked as though it could be a little loosened. But despite his rather shapely appearance, Gail held extreme respect for the man. He wasn't much for humor, but he was the man who had decided to give a girl without even a writing degree a chance to write and get a good job. He also happened to be a fantastic writer, making his position as Editor-in-Chief a no-brainer. He was the one who had looked at Gail's writing and had decided that it might work for writing about duels. Gail had a way of making things picturesque in her writing. She caught the attention of people, and, according to her boss, make people feel like they were actually there. So he had taken Gail and assigned her as an assistant to one of the head writers at DMM. But when Gail wrote her first big interview, she was promoted farther than she could have imagined.

The man placed his hands on his hips, a position Gail probably would not have recommended for him. "Hanson, what have you been doing?"

"Waiting for my design plans for my next article to come back," Gail said immediately, adjusting her silver, half moon glasses on the bridge of her nose, "You did read the article, didn't you?"

"Of course," he said quickly, "and it was written well, but definitely not your best work."

Gail shrugged. "I thought it was all right."

"And that's your problem." Her boss' voice was sharp. Gail immediately snapped to attention. "The problem is, Hanson, that you've been lagging. You're in a flat line when it comes to writing. Where's the spark you were hired for?"

Gail blinked. "Well, it's just that there hasn't been anything extremely interesting lately. I mean, duels happen every day and to tell you the truth, I'm getting a little sick of them. I'm more interested in the people than the actual duels themselves. I like a little strategy behind my work."

Her boss nodded his thick head. "And that's where you shine! But how long has it been since you wrote that interview?"

"On Yugi Muto?" Gail smiled, "It was around half a year or so ago."

Her boss' large shoulders dropped slightly, his eyes blinking in an almost sad way. "Now listen to me straight, Ms. Hanson. I'm going to do what any boss would do. This is how the business world works."

Gail nodded slowly, her stomach doing somersaults at the tone of his voice. Somehow she didn't like the way he spoke, and she felt that she wouldn't like what was coming next either.

"I'm going to motivate you."

Gail nodded, loosening her tense fingers ever so slightly. Well, that didn't sound too bad.

"If you don't give me a satisfactory story by next week, I'm going to have to let you go."

Gail felt as though had just dropped out from underneath her. She gripped the arm of the couch beside her in order to steady herself. No…no, this couldn't be happening…this was Gail's first ever job, and to her, it was the world. This was what she had been born to do. There was no going back. And if she was fired, who else would take her?

Her boss looked uncomfortable as he watched Gail's shocked reaction. He shifted from foot to foot nervously. "Look, Hanson, this is just the way business is. If you're not doing satisfactory work, then I have to think of the good of the company. You have one week to something that will blow away the media, or you're replaced." And with that, he left, without so much as a 'my condolences'.

Gail sunk into the couch, holding her head in her hands. The world spun before her as she let the words her boss had spoken go deeper into her mind. If she didn't do something worth reading in a month, her career as a journalist was through.

Gail bit her lip. It seemed that everything she had that was going well would somehow get destroyed, ruining her life over and over again. First her family, then her education, and now this. She knew her boss was just doing what the head of any company would do: they found someone satisfactory and kept them just until they found someone better.

_Well, this new journalist had better be a heck of a good writer!_ Gail snapped in her thoughts.

Gail sat up, gazing around the room. She had come to really love this office, hanging every picture and setting each potted plant with care. She loved being the top journalist. She had risen to the highest point she could get in this company, and she truly did not want to leave it. To her, she had one of the best jobs in San Francisco, and the pay wasn't half bad. In fact, the pay was perfectly enough to cover the cost for her apartment and the keep up the insurance on her car, which happened to be a nice one. If there was one thing Gail had learned throughout her upper high school career, it was that pinching pennies could get you a long way. She had done it all throughout college, so that when she had left college early, she had a good enough start that after a few months of work, she had enough money to buy herself a car, one of the best investments she had ever made.

Gail stood and reseated herself in her swivel chair behind her desk, turning around and gazing out to the ocean. But her heart wasn't really into it anymore. The only thing her quick mind could think of was the looming threat of a job loss. The problem was that Gail had no super interesting stories to actually write. Of course, she could just drive around and look for duels, but there was nothing super interesting about the current duels. They were mostly for sport and good fun, not over territory, as recent gang members had been doing, or for any large competition, so it was relatively slow. And even if Gail did drive around 'Frisco, she had no guarantee that she would even _find_ a duel to write about. She had a week to create a story, one that no one would ever forget.

Gail sighed and whirled around, gazing up on a wall where she had framed a few of the cover pages for her biggest scoops. There were five there, her stories that had made headlines, but the one in the center was the prize. The picture was of a high school boy. He was rather short and mostly unimpressive, but his insane hair seemed to make up for that fact: it looked as though he had a habit of sticking his fingers in wall sockets to style his lovely head of hair every morning. It formed into the shape of an oddly formatted star, sticking up the back of his head. The base was black, but the edges were a violet-red, and the bangs a golden blonde. He wore a school uniform in basic blue, white, and black and on his wrist was a basic KaibaCorp Duel Disk. But what seemed to catch everyone's attention, or at least so she had been told, was the thick silver chain that rounded his neck, and the enormous golden charm at the end, in the shape of a pyramid.

Gail smiled at the cover. Yugi Muto had been her big break. The interview he had allowed her to do on him had given her the top journalist position she currently held. For months the story had been reprinted, the title _The King of Games: His Rise to Royalty_ appearing on the covers of the next four DMM issues. It had taken Gail so long to realize that Yugi was special. For one, the first time she met him, he was with a group of other teenagers, him being the smallest and the most sensitive of them all. His high pitched voice automatically told Gail that he had yet to hit his growth spurt. So hopefully he wouldn't always be short.

But Yugi was a better duelist than he had originally let on, especially when he had showed Gail his secret. When he had closed his eyes and fingered the puzzle around his neck, Gail had come face to face with a living artifact. How no one else realized that Yugi was really two people at one, Gail didn't know. There were both obvious and subtle differences between the two, height and voice range only being two of them. So after following around the teenage boy for a week, she had gotten both his and his alter ego's stories, and had sent them off to her boss for the okay. His response had been explosive, and when the magazine sold out for literally the first time in four years, Gail was made Journalist of the Year, as well as being given the top position for a writer in DMM.

Gail sighed and hung the framed cover back on the wall. That had been almost seven months ago. Apparently her boss had forgotten about that. No one else had done what she had: getting an interview with the most famous duelists of all time. Gail's other achievements had been her interview and article on Maximillion Pegasus, another one that had done extremely well, and one on Zigfried Von Schroeder and Schroeder Corporation. That one, she had to admit, had been slightly odd, but she had been paid well all the same. But nothing had matched her interview with the King of Games himself.

"_Ms. Hanson, are you there?_"

Gail pressed a large button on her phone console, the large intercom system where the voice of her assistant came from. Miranda's voice was rough from being put through the device, but Gail knew her friend anywhere. She sighed and replied, "I'm here Miranda. Shoot."

There was a round of static before a response came. "_There's a young man on the line for you. Would you like to speak to him?_"

Gail sighed again and rubbed her temples wearily. "Who is it? Because if it's no one important, then I'm really not in the mood."

"_He says his name is Yugi Muto_."

Gail snatched up the phone, all weariness forgotten. Speak of the devil…"Put him on, Miranda!"

Her assistant's voice faded away and a click could be heard over the phone a few seconds later.

"Hello? Gail?"

Gail couldn't help but smile at the cheerful voice. It felt like forever since she had heard the cheerful teenager. "Hey, Yugi! How have you been doing? It's been a while."

"Yeah, just over half a year, isn't it?"

Gail nodded, though she knew that they were useless over a phone call. "Yeah. Dang, feels like forever!" She lounged back on the couch. "So, what do you need?"

"I have a friend who needs an advertisement done in a magazine and I recommended you. But because we know each other, I decided to call you first. Are you interested?"

Gail rolled her eyes. "Well…I'm a little pressed for time right now. Who is this guy and what kind of ad does he want?"

"His name is Seto Kaiba."

If Gail hadn't been so securely seated in her chair, she probably would have fallen out in shock. "Hold on…_the_ Seto Kaiba? The CEO of KaibaCorp? That Seto Kaiba?" Gail leaped to her feet and hurried to a stack of magazines. She flipped through the magazine, stopping on ad for a new model of the Duel Disk. "He's, like, the biggest name in Dueling…ever! Well…except for you. We've rarely written everything on him, because he and his company are so secretive. So he wants an ad? Doesn't he already have ads in our magazine?"

"Yeah, but this is apparently a really important one. He wants to meet up tomorrow. Will that work for you?"

Gail didn't even have to look at her calendar, already knowing that it was blank for the next week. "That looks like it will work," she said smoothly, "Where would you like to meet?"

"What works for you?"

Gail barely had to think. She had already been looking at the perfect social place only minutes before. "How about the beach, you know, the one just outside the DMM building?"

"Perfect. So…tomorrow?"

"It's a date," Gail said with a smirk. "I can't wait to meet your friend!"

Yugi gave a half laugh over the phone. "I think you'll feel differently after you actually meet him."

Gail frowned and raised an eyebrow. "How so? He's your friend, right?"  
"Well…he may be my friend, but he doesn't consider me his. Actually, I don't think he considers anyone his friend."

Gail swallowed. "Sounds like a cheerful guy. Is all he wants an ad?"

"That's all he said."

"So…" Gail said slowly, "he…doesn't want an interview or an article or anything? You know…just an extra favor or something?" Gail tried not to sound desperate, but holding her tongue was hard, especially when she was already begging for a story.

She could almost imagine Yugi shrugging. "You'll have to ask him that yourself. Kaiba wouldn't like me speaking for him. He's kind of…distant."

"Well," Gail held back a sigh, "I guess if he wants _something_, I can get it done. What time can I expect you?"

"Will around ten in the morning work for you?"

"Perfectly," Gail said, marking down the time on the huge calendar set out on her desk, "So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow," Yugi agreed, "See ya!"

"Goodbye," Gail answered, turning off the phone and setting it back down on the phone console. She sat still, looking at the calendar, scribbling over the number ten over and over again in a rather distracted manner. _Seto Kaiba_. His name rolled over Gail's mind. She had read about him before, and seen his name and his company's name in many different places, but now he wanted a specific job, and by her! Gail knew for a fact that an interview with someone like him was extremely hard to get, especially since DMM, at least to her knowledge, had never gotten an interview from him before. But if Gail could convince him otherwise, she might not only get a good story, but might also be able to save her job.

Gail smiled. This could be her big chance! Leave it to Yugi Muto, her first big break, to get Gail another big story. Now all she had to do was convince Seto Kaiba that he needed an interview. How hard could that be?

* * *

**And so we have chapter 2! **

**Thanks for your patience. Not only has my beta been busy, I've had to complete a 30 hour project this week, and it took up a whole lot of time! So, yes, I'm alive and this story is continuing. Oh, and just so you know, if I start posting another story up, I HAVE NOT ABANDONED THIS FIC! My problem is that with this being finished and all ahead of time, I started something else. So, I hope you'll read that one too when I get it up! **

**Thank you so much for reading, and please tell me your thoughts and feelings on it.**

**As always,**

**Pixie**


	3. Talking to a Rock

**Hey! Sorry for the late chapter update; I was gone all weekend up in the mountains with my classmates, which was just the vacation I needed :) Anyhow, chapter...**

**Okay, so people have been asking me about the time of this story. Well, it will become evident later, but I should probably mention that this story takes place in between the Waking the Dragons saga and the Grand Championship saga (if that means anything to you). Oh, and I will be using the English dubbed names for the characters. I know some people may not like the dubs, but I am actually quite fond of them. **

**I'll try to update as soon as possible, but my amazing Beta, Dragonguy54321, has also been quite busy and that will delay me. So sorry for the wait!**

* * *

"And we're supposed to meet this journalist…here?"

"This is the place she mentioned," Yugi replied, his wide eyes gleaming in the bright sunlight.

Seto kept a snarl to himself as he glared around himself. A beach: oh, wasn't this just a perfect place for a meeting! Shouts and screams came from all around him, throwing off his thoughts. People rushed past dressed in ways that Seto would rather prefer not to see. Seto crossed his arms, glaring at anyone whose eyes managed to meet his. "This is probably the worst place for a meeting," he snarled. "How will she even manage to _find_ us in this…this…jumble?"

"Hey, Yugi!"

Seto and Yugi turned. A tall woman walked up to them, waving her arm. Her lips turned in a wide smile, eyes bright.

As she drew nearer, Seto was able to make her out better. She was taller than Yugi by almost around a foot, her shape slender, but then again, most people were taller than him naturally. She wore a pale pink halter top and a pair of dark jeans, blue Teva sandals completing the look. The only odd things about her outfit were a set of armbands, made of leather that fitted neatly on her forearms arms, buckled with small belts. Seto shrugged off thinking too hard about them: they were probably some sort of braces. Bright, almost emerald green eyes shone from behind a pair of silver, half-moon glasses, which glittered sharply in the bright sunlight. Long wavy blonde hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, which swung gently behind her. From the way Seto saw it, the girl couldn't be that much older than him, her physique and structure older than that of a teenager, but younger than a person in their twenties.

Of course, this changed nothing about how Seto thought of her. She was a business opportunity.

The woman engulfed Yugi in a quick hug, expression open and happy. "It's so good to see you, Yugi! You look taller than when I last saw you."

Yugi shrugged, smiling. "Well, I sure hope I've been growing! I've been short my whole life!"

The woman laughed. "Well, it's so good to see you!" She suddenly turned to Seto, blinking her now slightly subdued eyes. She almost seemed to be inspecting him, as though viewing him as a possible threat. "So, Yugi, are you going to introduce me to your friend?"

_Friend?_ What had Yugi told this girl? When were he and Yugi _ever_ considered friends? Seto nearly snorted.

"Gail," Yugi said, addressing the girl, "this is Seto Kaiba, CEO of KaibaCorp. Kaiba, Gail Addison Hanson, Journalist of Duel Monsters Magazine."

The woman, Gail held out her hand to shake. Seto took it without hesitation. The woman's eyes narrowed as she watched him, their hands moving briefly before the two let go, preferring to glare at one another.

"Are we going to commence our meeting here?" Seto said sharply, "or is there a chance that we might be able to move somewhere quieter and slightly more secluded?"

Gail nodded her ponytailed head. "Of course, Mr. Kaiba. I only asked you to come here so that my colleagues in DMM might not either try to swarm you first, or so that you might not be as noticeable. A crowd often helps with that." Her tone was chilly, eyes shimmering like ice. "If you would follow me, Mr. Kaiba, we will retire to my office." She took off down the beach towards the nearby road, not bothering to look back to see if Seto or Yugi was following her.

Seto turned his sharp eyes on Yugi. "You mean to tell me that this…arrogant little…girl is the journalist you spoke so highly of? She's practically a teenager!"

Yugi brushed back his long, golden bangs. "She's a lot smarter than she looks, and her writing is beautiful. And Kaiba, you're practically a teenager as well."

Seto snarled. "Well she had better be worth it."

* * *

Gail's first reaction at seeing Mr. Kaiba was '_What the heck is up with Mr. Dark-and-Gloomy?'_

She turned her head back slightly, glancing down the beach. Yugi had already hailed down a taxi to head to the airport for his flight back home. She wondered for a split second how long it would be until she saw the young teen again.

Gail turned and watched as the dark man followed her off the beach, his hard blue eyes inspecting everything. He was a handsome young man; not even "Gail of the No Boyfriends" could deny that. He was very tall, probably over six feet, with warm, slightly scruffy brown hair the color of milk chocolate. And those eyes…Gail couldn't remember seeing any eyes so distant, so focused before. His hard jaw filled out his thin face, his expression one that was almost sour as he looked around. With arms crossed and his white trench coat that seemed to deny gravity, he was an imposing figure. But what made Gail fear him less was the realization that he was around her age. How hard could a young adult be?

But by the time the two hit her office, Gail was pretty sure she had stumbled upon the most silent man on earth. His cold eyes inspected everything down to what seemed a detail, following Gail without question. Gail hurried along at a brisk pace, but he was always close enough behind her, due to his extremely long legs.

Gail led him silently and quickly through the DMM building. She attracted quite a few looks and a few gasps of either jealousy or shock, but either way, the surprise made Gail almost smirk. It took most of her maturity not to point and laugh at them with a comment similar to, _Check out my next big project, suckers!_ Gail smiled at the thought of their faces after _that_!

She led Mr. Kaiba into the elevator, pressing the twelve button and standing back. She glanced at Mr. Kaiba next to her. Since they had started out at the beach, she had been trying to initiate a conversation between them, but all she had gotten in return was either a cold stare or a grunt of a reply. The man never seemed to talk, and when he did, he didn't seem very polite about his words.

After what seemed like forever, the light flashed and sound dinged, the doors sliding open to the floor. Gail immediately jumped out, walking down the hallway, her head only slightly turning back to check that Mr. Kaiba was following her. He was, his eyed fixated on her back as they walked. Gail swallowed and continued on.

She opened the door to her office, holding it open so that the tall man could step inside, her shutting the door behind him. She motioned to the couch. "Would you like to sit as we talk?"  
Mr. Kaiba didn't reply. Instead, he simply moved over to the cushioned couch and sat down, crossing his arms. He closed his eyes, his chest moving up and down slightly as he took deeper breaths. Gail raised an eyebrow. What was the guy doing? Sleeping?

"Would you like anything to eat or drink?" Gail asked.

Mr. Kaiba didn't even look at her. "Coffee, thank you."

Gail nearly rolled her eyes as she sighed quietly. _Three words, Gail. You have officially managed to get three words out of him. _But she still hurried to a table where she always kept cookies and drinks, just in case she had a sudden job to do. She made a cup of coffee. "Cream and sugar?"

"No."

Gail nearly sighed again. She had been partnered with a lot of people, some more anti-social than others, but so far, this Mr. Kaiba took the cake. How was she supposed to talk to him if he didn't want to talk back?

Gail hurried back to Mr. Kaiba, setting the mug down on the coffee table in front of him. He nodded at her in thanks, taking the mug and sipping the hot drink gently. Hen she prepared herself a cup of tea. When she had finished, she sat across from Mr. Kaiba, setting her own cup on the table. She kicked off her sandals and curled her legs underneath her on the chair, setting her legal pad on top of her knees. She knew she must look extremely unprofessional, but she felt the flow of words better in her brain when she was comfortable. And so far, she really didn't care what Mr. Kaiba thought of her, because as time went on, she liked him less and less.

"Okay," she said to him, trying to sound cheerful, "are you comfortable? Can I get you anything?"  
Mr. Kaiba's response was a chilly stare which caused a shiver to run up Gail's spine.

"O-kay," she breathed out slowly, her word spreading itself over her breath. She whipped out her pencil from behind her ear and scribbled down a date at the top of her page. She glanced up at Mr. Kaiba. "Can you please tell me your full name again, just for the record?"

"Seto Kaiba," he said briskly, his blue eyes slicing into her gaze.

But Gail hadn't been made top journalist for only her writing skills: her persuasion skills were also top notch. In this case, she preferred to use one that had gotten her into many interesting places: the glare. She turned her emerald gaze onto Mr. Seto Kaiba, trying to pierce his own gaze with hers. But he was like ice. Somehow she would have to break him or melt him if she wanted this plan to work.

"Alright," Gail said slowly, "I'm just going to have to ask you some preliminary questions that must be answered truthfully to go on your record here. These questions are for paperwork specifically, but can be used in the work you have chosen for me to write." Gail had said these words so many times that it seemed almost tedious and robotic for her. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen years and seven months."

_Dang,_ Gail thought, _is he quick and specific or what?_ She scribbled down his age, seeing with pleasure that she herself was indeed older than the young man. She was soon to be twenty. "Job title?"  
"CEO of KaibaCorporation."

And the questions went on. With each one, Gail scribbled down a quick note. One of the ways Gail kept her work so clean and secret was that when she had first started writing, she had invented her own style of freehand writing, making sure no one could read her notes it they ever were stolen or looked at with prying eyes.

Every answer was short and sharp, the young man not even looking at her with his harsh blue eyes. He seemed to be paying less and less attention to her with each passing question and with each question asked, Gail felt her temper rise. If there was one thing she hated, it was being ignored.

Gail scribbled down her last note, almost sighing in relief. _Alright_, she though, _now for the moment of truth…_

"So," she said as she looked up from her legal pad, "what exactly is it that you want from DMM?"

"An advertisement," Mr. Kaiba said.

Gail blinked. "And…nothing else? No articles or interviews?"

"I believe that you will find that this advertisement is really more of an article. No interviews."

Gail almost blinked in surprise at the man's sudden use of full sentences. Instead, she took a deep breath, trying one last time. "So…you really don't want an interview? I'm sure one could—."

"No interview," the brown haired man said sharply, his blue eyes fixing on her green, "The only reason I came here was because that dork Yugi told me you were good at what you did. Are you still good?"

"I'm good enough for you," Gail snapped back, all professionalism forgotten, "Are you always this cold?"

Mr. Kaiba did not answer, instead turning away and looking back at one of the walls of Gail's office. Gail felt herself bristle at his lack of attention. _Just because he's some big hotshot with the dueling world doesn't mean he's going to take _me _down!_ She resisted the urge to unleash her blades on him; a few scratches would have served him right. But Gail forced herself to remain calm and instead pinched her lips into a smile. "You know what? If we're going to be working together on this, we might as well get to know each other a bit better. What's your favorite color?"

Mr. Kaiba's hard face didn't change at all. His eyes remained fixed on a piece of wall, never wavering and becoming almost glassy. Now Gail was _sure_ that he was ignoring her. She gave a slight snarl. "Alright, fine. _I'll_ go first," she glared at him, imagining his thin head going up in flames, "I rather like green and blue, though brown is a rather nice as well. How about you?"

Gail was actually surprised that Mr. Kaiba answered at all.

"I prefer white," he said coldly, still not looking at her, "because it happens to be the absence of all colors. I also prefer black, all colors combined. This way, I have no reason to specifically choose a color for a 'favorite', as you call it." His icy eyes turned to her. "But if you must know, I have a preference for blue. Now how does this have even the slightest thing to do with an advertisement?"

Gail blinked, surprised. Well…that wasn't an answer she normally got. It half made her want to laugh, half caused her to bristle all over again. She chose the latter.

"I want to get to know you, to better understand your style. What kind of food do you like? If you want," she said almost mockingly, "I can go first again." Gail snapped her mouth shut as soon as the words left her mouth. She almost winced. There she was again, letting her quick temper take hold of her.

Mr. Kaiba glared right back at her, his navy blue eyes as cold as ice and as sharp as steel. "Do you know who you're dealing with?"

Gail pointed to her legal pad. "Um…according to recently attained information, I'd say you're Seto Kaiba, age eighteen and seven months, CEO and President of KaibaCorp, main technology distributor and inventor in Japan, and a load of other stuff that I just wrote down."

Mr. Kaiba gave a slight growl, his eyes narrowing. "Well then you had better know that I'm also the one of the richest, most powerful men in all of Japan, and if I wanted to, I could make you lose your job."

Gail snorted. That threat would have probably been menacing if Gail wasn't already being threatened with a job loss. "Believe it or not, Mr. Kaiba, you really don't frighten me. Look," she stood up, slamming her legal pad down on the table, "right now, I'm really starting to get serious about not liking you, and judging by the way you're acting, I'd say that you probably feel the same about me. But let me tell you straight. I'm not being arrogant or stuck up at all when I say that I'm a huge writer when it comes to dueling and duelist information and my works have been published in dozens of magazines. If you want a good ad done, then I'm the person you're going to need. You need an ad, and, believe it or not, I need this job more than you might think. So for one week of our lives, we're going to have to put aside our differences and get this done. Got it?"

Mr. Kaiba's stare was enough to make Gail nearly scream. Man, she really hated this person!

Gail held out her hand. "Do we have a deal?"

Mr. Kaiba stood up, his height probably a major factor in intimidating others, but Gail really didn't care. She was being threatened with a job loss already, and so Mr. Kaiba could do nothing worse. Gail set her piercing gaze into the eyes of the young man before her, setting her jaw and gritting her teeth. But inwardly, she begged out pleas to herself. _Come on, just take the hand and shake it! That's all I need, one little shake! Please!_

Mr. Kaiba fit his slim hand into Gail's. They shook exactly once before releasing each other's hands. Blue eyes met green, as though daring Gail to make a false move. Gail knew the man was powerful; she had done her research well enough. But the fact that she was already on the verge of a job crash made his intimidating factor a lot less scary. To other people, he was probably terrifying, but to Gail, she was too desperate to care. All she knew was that he had shaken on it. And that meant, she had a chance.

* * *

"How's it going, Seto?"

Seto snarled over the phone, leaning back on the bed and groaning slightly. "This journalist is going to drive me crazy, Mokuba…and I haven't even known her for a day yet!"

The small, happy voice of Seto's younger brother was sympathetic over the speakers. "I'm sorry, Seto. Maybe she'll turn out to be nicer."

"She's as hard headed as a bull in an arena," Seto said rather bluntly.

"So…" Mokuba's voice changed to a teasing tone, "you two are basically the same."

Seto growled deeply. "We are nothing alike. She's a bull-headed mule and I happen to be—."

"A dragon," Mokuba finished. He was probably one of the only people on the Earth that could interrupt Seto Kaiba and get away with it, at least so far. "But you _are _stubborn, Seto. Even you can't change that. How's the hotel, by the way?"

Seto looked around the room. It was a very nice hotel, or it could be. It was one of the nicest in California, but that didn't mean that Seto was satisfied. The room was of average size, and the bed would do. The view from the balcony could have been better, and, in Seto's opinion, there was a startling lack of technology.

"It could be better," Seto said grumpily, "Maybe I'll buy this chain of hotels as well. How are things running at home?" Of course, Seto didn't really need to know: he had his laptop open on his lap, and he was scrolling down through long pages of stocks and statistics. Paperwork was one of the main jobs Seto did. He had checked more grants, written more papers, given more speeches, and bought more companies than most enterprises had. His company was a gem in the eyes of duelists around the world and he intended to keep it that way. But despite knowing all the stats already, he still wanted to hear the word from his bother.

"It's great!" Mokuba said cheerfully, "but I miss you. You left so fast."

Seto brushed back a spare piece of hair from his forehead. "I know. According to this Hanson girl, the finished product will be completed in around a week. I'll be home soon. You're keeping yourself away from trouble, correct? No one's kidnapped you yet?"

Mokuba laughed at his brother's teasing. "I'm fine! Roland's taking good care of me and making sure I'm okay. How about you?"

A small smile graced Seto's lips, a miracle in the making. "I could be better. This Hanson girl is giving me a headache. She's about as stubborn as Wheeler on the Dueling Field!"

"Yikes! That's pretty bad," Mokuba said. Seto could imagine his younger brother wince. "Well at least she's not ditzy like other girls, right?"

Seto snorted. "Depends. She actually asked me if she could call me by my first name. What kind of an idiot would ask that?"

"Umm…everyone? Seto, people expect you to be more open. Seeing as you're not, it comes as quite a shock. I don't blame her."

Seto sighed loudly. "Well other than that, this girl is anything but ditzy. She's more of a pigheaded jacka—."

"Seto!" Mokuba's voice was accusing. Seto snapped his mouth shut. He had been trying to swear less around Mokuba, for fear that he was corrupting his younger brother's mind. Mokuba had agreed whole heartedly to this plan and decided to help his brother out with this dilemma.

"Sorry," Seto rubbed the bridge of his nose, "She's a brat. Does that work?"

"Much better. So why don't you just find someone else?"

"Because," Seto snarled, "I've been reading through her paperwork and the articles and interviews she's written and, believe it or not, she's actually good. If she can do this right, the ad might just do well and sales could rise."

"Well," Mokuba said slowly, "at least she knows what she's doing. How does she write so well?"

"Luck," Seto snarled. "There's no other way."

"Was it luck that you beat Gozuboro?"

"I'm a genius," Seto commented as he typed a few notes down on his computer, "she's anything but."

Seto glanced at his computer. Ever since the Dartz incident, he had been checking his stocks every day for fear that someone else would somehow manage to buy up all of his stocks and put him yet again out of business. Seto shook his head fiercely. He wasn't really _afraid_…just more _concerned _for his company's and his own wellbeing. He didn't want to have to go and chase down another idiot trying to take over the world: he left that for Yugi and the Dolt Squad. He was sick and tired of helping them save the world and hoped that by creating KaibaLand, he might be able to take a little time to himself and actually manage to finish this project. Though it took a lot more time than any of those world-changing plots, he was much happier that he was doing something he actually wanted to do, which rarely happened.

"You had better get to bed, Mokuba," Seto finally said.

"Will you go to sleep too?"

Seto glanced up at a clock and sighed, looking back down at his computer. His company had designed the laptop he used: it was thinner than just about any computer on the planet, and used some of the fastest KaibaCorp technology. His computer's speed and accuracy could rival even those of a supercomputer. "Sure Mokuba…in a few hours."

"Liar. You're going to pull another all nighter, aren't you."

Seto sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Depends on how much work I get done, Mokuba."

"Seto, this'll be your fourth all nighter in a row. Don't you think even a cat nap will help?"

"Mokuba, if I set my head down on that pillow, I'll be out like a light until morning. Someone has to keep the company running smoothly, and you're not quite ready for that."

"And when I am, I'm going to send you to bed every night at exactly ten o'clock!" Mokuba said seriously, "Well, have a good night, Seto."

"Good night, Mokuba," Seto said, quietly turning off the phone and setting it next to him. He set his laptop down on the bed behind him, stretching out his tired limbs and feeling the joints in his back pop from the movement. He let out a long sigh and headed into the kitchen to make his first of many cups of coffee that night.

**I remember when I was younger and I accidentally wrote a clip of a story where Seto says he doesn't like coffee.**

**O.o**

**Yeah, my brain must have been turned off. Seto cannot live without his coffee.**

**So, tell me what you thought about this. It's a lot of fun writing about Gail! She's basically the epitome of my stubbornness put to an extreme! She has become probably one of my favorite characters of all my stories. Maybe my newest character will surpass her...that'll be difficult.**

**So thanks for reading! I'm going to head off to bed to contemplate the episode of Downton Abbey that I just watched. See you all later!**

**~Pixie**


	4. Beach Rush

**Next chapter! Yahoo! Sorry for the delay. Physics, Calculus, and Ancient Greek are not exactly the easiest classes in the world (but I did learn 24 different ways to say the word "the"...awesome, right?). Anyhow, enjoy the next chapter.**

**This is one of the shortest intros I've ever written...odd...**

* * *

"Good morning!"

Seto barely glanced in the blonde's direction as she waved to him from a table. He slowly walked over, taking a seat across from her. He glanced around with a disdainful eye. The coffee was almost quant…almost. To him, everything seemed slightly small, but then again, Seto managed to find the wrong in everything. But truly it wasn't his fault: the business man inside of him simply caused him to find issues that he would have fixed.

Seto slid into the seat across from Gail. The young woman immediately handed him a covered to-go cup, slightly chocolate-y smelling steam rising from the hole in the top. Seto breathed it in deeply, closing his eyes. He had stayed up all night on coffee, but the drink never got old for him.

Gail must have seen the expression on his face because she gave a half grin. "So you like coffee? I'm more into tea myself."

Seto's face immediately closed as he grabbed the cup and took a long drink. The hot liquid ran down his throat and into his stomach. He could almost feel the caffeine enter his limbs, slowly waking him up.

"I don't know what you like," Gail said with a smile, "so I got you a straight espresso with mocha. Like it?"

Seto set the cup down, fixing his blue eyes on Gail. "It'll suffice." Seto had never been big on sweets, but for this morning, it would do fine.

Gail leaned back in her chair with a sigh and a slow, "O-kay". She closed the laptop in front of her and slid it down next to her feet. She clasped her hands in front of her. "So, I decided that today we could just walk around 'Frisco and get to know each other a bit better—."

"And how will this help your ad?" Seto cut her off.

Gail's bright green eyes flashed behind her half-moon glasses. Her face hardened into a frown. "You know, I find it extremely annoying that you can interrupt me but I'm not allowed to interrupt you."

"I have more authority than you," was Seto's immediate answer.

"Oh," Gail said nearly mockingly, "well, then I—." Gail suddenly cut herself off, snapping her mouth shut. "Dang, not arguing with you is going to be one heck of a challenge." She shook her head, long wavy hair swirling back and forth. When Seto had been up close next to the girl yesterday, he had noticed that her long blonde hair wasn't one shade, as he had initially thought. It was made up of different chunks of shaded hair. Seto nearly rolled his eyes. She had probably dyed it, though how she managed to do it in so many shades of blonde and how much she had paid for it to be done, Seto wasn't sure.

"Anyways," Gail continued, "in order to do this ad right, I need to know an awful lot about KaibaLand and you in general. Writing an article? Piece of cake. But getting it in the right style, that's when it gets more difficult."

"So this week that it will take to do the ad," Seto said quietly, "will be a week of getting to _know_ each other?"

Gail shrugged. "Well, yeah! It's not nearly as bad as you think. I just need to know more about you, that's all. It's like yesterday, with the color question, except this is for real now, not just a game. Good?"

"No, not—."

"Great!" Gail jumped up before Seto could finish his complaint and grabbed her bag, walking quickly towards the door. She turned back once before she hit the door. "Hey, Kaiba, you coming?"

Seto snarled to himself. He took one last mouthful of his espresso, polishing off the drink. He then slammed it on the table and stalked out of the coffee shop after the blonde. What he did for him company…

Gail was waiting outside for him, her green eyes daring him to speak. But Seto kept his mouth firmly shut. Now the woman was just provoking him to break their deal. Seto had always had a talent for keeping cool under pressure, so he merely glared at her with fierce eyes until she had the good sense to look away.

"I say let's walk around the beach a bit today," Gail said decidedly, "not on the beach directly, if you want, but how about close?"

Seto didn't answer. Seeing as Gail was the one writing the interview, that put her slightly in charge, but Seto wasn't going to tell her that.

Gail watched his silence for a few seconds before replying to her own question. "Alrighty, then. Let's go down to the boardwalks. Are you sure you don't want to change first?"  
Seto blinked curiously. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Well," she said motioning to his outfit, "for one, you're wearing a black _turtleneck_…on a beach…in early fall. You could get heatstroke wearing something like that! And this coat-thing of yours…it's like your trademark, right? Don't you think someone will recognize you as Seto Kaiba?"

Seto set his jaw angrily. "I would prefer if you keep your opinions to yourself, Ms. Hanson, thank you."

Gail blinked sharply. "Fine," she said with a face free of emotion, "I'll be sure to remember that." And so they continued.

Seto wasn't fond of crowds, at least ones that he was in the middle of. He loved to be the center of attention, just so long as he was still in control. But here, he was not in control at all. In fact, he found himself being bumped around by random people who passed him by without a glance. He looked sharply at Gail. The young woman avoided the passers with ease, stepping out of the way with smooth movements. It was obvious that she had been here many times. She didn't even look back to see how Seto was faring. Seto gritted his teeth and followed, avoiding running children and other people.

He gave a snarl. If there was one thing Seto hated more than anything, it was being treated like a child. When he had taken over his company at age twelve, older business men had gone to all lengths to harass him and try to take KaibaCorp from Seto. Even at his current age, people still tried to overwhelm him with problems. Being in on the crowded boardwalk, being pushed around by ignorant people, reminded Seto much too much of his childhood.

"It's not normally this crowded," Gail called to him, finally looking back. Her eyes sparkled playfully. Seto almost growled in anger. Had she _planned_ for this to happen, to annoy him so? "Maybe it's because it's Saturday. Want to go someplace quieter?"

Seto gritted his teeth. "I thought you would never ask."

* * *

Gail led Kaiba between a few shops and back onto a much less crowded road. The young man looked highly uncomfortable jumping through the thin openings between stores, but less so than when he had been on the boardwalk. _Serves him right_, Gail thought with a smirk. She hadn't meant for the beach to be so crowded, but now that she thought about it, the choice was better than she could have ever expected. When she had glanced back and caught sight of the richest person in Japan being pushed around by random people and the expression of extreme discomfort, she nearly laughed. He totally deserved it.

Nevertheless, Gail still had the decency to apologize. "Sorry about that. That place is normally not so crowded."

Gail watched as Kaiba stood a slight ways from her, brushing himself off and fixing his coat. Gail had to admit, that coat was hilarious. Where Kaiba came from, it was probably very fashionable, but to her, it made her only very amused. For one, it was pure white, which Gail thought was odd for a trench coat, which were usually either very dark or tan. Gail's trench coat went down to her mid calf, but Kaiba's was all the way down to his ankles. The studs added a nice touch of roughness, and the flaring of the back was…well…unreal. Gail wasn't sure if KaibaCorp had learned how to defy gravity, or if Kaiba just used a lot of starch. She was betting on the latter.

Kaiba's eyes were chilly as he gazed over to her. "I'd prefer if we stay away from overly crowded areas from now on."

Gail huffed good naturedly, hands on her hips. "Have a problem with people, Kaiba?"

The blue of Seto's eyes grew sharper. "Yes, I do." He stalked down the road, leaving Gail behind.

Gail crossed her arms and jumped after him with a grumble. This guy really _was_ a jerk. "Well, that's unfortunate, seeing as humans are one of the main beings on the Earth."

"You happen to be forgetting that insects are higher than animals on the highest population list of the world," came Kaiba's quick, steel-like answer.

Gail hissed silently between her clenched teeth. _Stupid geniuses and their stupid brains!_ She thought sharply. She forced a smile. "Sorry, I must have forgotten that statistic." She crunched down on her lower lip. "And there I go, starting an argument again! What is my problem?"

Kaiba didn't answer.

Gail sighed as they continued walking. _How am I going to get him to talk about himself if he's a freaking crab all the time?_

"Hey, isn't that Seto Kaiba?"  
Gail and Kaiba swiveled their heads around at the sudden loud call. A large group of females stood in a nearby group, on of them pointing directly at Kaiba. Most of them had odd colored hair, and a large number of them were wearing clothes that Gail would not approve of on anyone. Some of them even had KaibaCorp Duel Disks on one arm.

"Crap," Gail spat. She had been hoping this wouldn't happen, but she had been right: the outfit was too recognizable. "Fangirl swarm."

Without another word, the girls shot in Kaiba's general direction, screaming out loving words at the top of their lungs. A few of them pulled out pens and notebooks, probably hoping for an autograph. And if Gail knew famous people, fangirls were worse than the paparazzi and the media combined.

"RUN!"

Gail screamed out her warning and took off. She had dealt with enough fangirls on jobs to know that when the meant business, someone usually got hurt. Fangirls could be deadly when they wanted a souvenir: They could tear clothes if they wanted to get to one and today, Gail was just not up to that.

Kaiba raced at her heels, his long legs allowing him to keep pace without much of a problem. His expression was one of almost perfect calm, with maybe a hint of gruff determination. His teeth were gritted, eyes shining and cold.

The two bolted through the streets, easily outrunning the preps, but somehow, the fangirls seemed to find Kaiba even when he and Gail were taking a short breath of a break. Gail was convinced that fangirls had a sense of smell that rivaled a bloodhound's, but then again, the cologne Kaiba was wearing was slightly strong, even if it smelled quite nice.

Gail led the chase through back alleys, ignoring the people fleeting the time away and sitting against walls. An old, fierce looking dog lifted its worn head off of the ground and snarled ferociously at the two passing adults. Gail knew it was a big risk running through where they were, but she was hoping that the fangirls would loose their way with all the twisting and turning.

Unfortunately, fangirls were not to be deterred.

"Have any more brilliant plans?" was Kaiba's rough reply as the two stopped for another quick breather.

Gail breathed hard, growling slightly in Kaiba's direction. "I told you that that coat of yours would cause trouble! Now look at what you've gotten us into!"

"None of this is of my causing," Kaiba's reply was short, "You brought us here, and you will get us out of this predicament."

Gail nearly screamed in frustration. But her anger dipped slightly when she looked up. The alleyway they were in had two large, brick buildings on either side. The buildings were rather old, probably made sometime in the late sixties. And at that point in time, buildings had a very limited roof access. Actually, many of them had thin ladders on the sides of the buildings to the roofs cold be easily accessed in case of an emergency or simply for repair men.

Whatever the case was, Gail was staring straight at one.

Gail jumped up. "Okay, I've got a plan."

Kaiba didn't answer, only staring at her with barely questioning blue eyes.

Gail was too excited to be ticked off at him now. She leaped over to the first rung of the ladder. "Get over here Kaiba and start climbing!"

Kaiba's eyes gleamed stubbornly. "If you think that I'm going to go up that…that…_thing_, then you are seriously wrong."

Gail was in no mood to argue. Her lips pinched and her eyes narrowed. "Would you rather climb up a building, or be attacked by girls rabidly out for your very being? Get your rear in gear, Seto Kaiba!"

There was something oddly satisfying for Gail in watching Kaiba actually do what Gail said. Maybe it was the fact that Kaiba was so rich and famous that he was probably never bossed around by anyone, or that he was so freakishly annoying to Gail that she took pleasure in him actually heeding her words. Either way, Gail felt slightly cocky as she followed the tall man up the ladder. Bullying a multi-billionaire was actually rather fun!

Kaiba jumped off the ladder, Gail tailing him closely. The roof was a relatively small space, but large enough. The top was covered in a thick layer of gravel, a few steel or some other metallic based cylinders and oddly shaped objects sticking themselves out of the stone layer and gleaming in the bright sunlight. At one end was a small brick outpost, a door on one side. Gail guessed that it was probably the entrance to the building from the roof level.

Gail walked over to the edge, her eyes following the band of girls as they passed by the building completely. She let out a sigh and knelt back. "They're gone. But do you think we should stay up here longer in case they hear us?"

"They're a bunch of idiots anyways," was Kaiba's scathing reply.

Gail allowed herself a slight smile. She looked out over the shorter buildings in front of the one they stood on. From here, she could see the ocean and the boardwalk. They must have run quite a ways, because the beach was rather far off. The view was wonderful, not nearly as nice as Gail's view from her office, but this would do.

"Nice view, huh?"

"I could get a better view from my backyard," was Kaiba's sharp reply.

Gail bit her tongue to keep from snapping back. It was as though Kaiba were _trying_ to start an argument, despite their deal. But then again, Kaiba was a multi-billionaire: if he didn't like a deal he had made, he could probably pay it off. Gail felt a rush of anger fill her heart. What was it with these stupid jerks in the world? What had anyone done to them to make them such rich crabs? What was wrong with them? They were a first-class nuisance, that was what! Gail resisted the urge to flick her wrists and unleash her blades, give Kaiba a _real_ piece of her mind. But she remained professional.

"Well," Gail said, not able to resist the call of sarcasm, "you must have a real interesting backyard."

Kaiba gave a grunt of a reply. "Are you ever going to ask me questions about the article advertisement?"

Gail nearly heaved a sigh. "Well, seeing as we've been pretty distracted in the past hour, I'd say that now is probably a good time for me to start asking!" She sat cross-legged on the gravel and took her laptop from her bag. With a push of a button, it whirred to life. She pulled up a blank document. She looked up slightly sheepishly at Kaiba. "Normally I would bring my notebook, but a laptop is good for long term and stationary work. Do you mind?"

"Would I?"

Gail blinked and returned to her document.

"Okay," she said, glancing back down, "So what do you want this advertisement to be specifically about?"

Seto's eyes drifted slight around, so he gazed out into the sky dramatically. "KaibaCorp's amusement park, KaibaLand, and for the KaibaCorp Grand Championship."

Gail blinked again. "…which is…?"

"The largest dueling tournament since Battle City. It will take place in KaibaLand. We'll be inviting the best duelists from all over the world to duel for a chance at the title position of Duel Monsters."

Gail typed out a few notes. "O-kay…" she said slowly, "so, does KaibaCorp own KaibaLand or only sponsor the creation?"

Kaiba leaned against the brick doorway. "KaibaCorp owns, designed, and created KaibaLand."

"And did you come up with the idea for KaibaLand yourself, or did someone else either come up with the idea or help you brainstorm the idea?"

Kaiba's blue eyes gleamed. "My Vice-President and I designed the idea together."

"How long ago was it that the idea was formed?"

"Over eight years ago."

Gail fixed her half moon glasses, blinking curiously. "Kaiba, if I remember correctly, it was almost eight years ago that you took over KaibaCorp. Was the idea for KaibaLand brainstormed _before_ you became in charge of KaibaCorp?"

"Correct."

Gail hurriedly wrote that down. "How long has the creating of KaibaLand completely taken, from the time you first started construction until now?"

"Almost a year."

Gail nodded. "Quick, huh? Alright, there have been rumors that KaibaLand is meant to be a chain of amusement parks. Are these rumors true?  
"KaibaLand will be a chain. Plans are being made in five other countries to make KaibaLand parks in each of them."

Gail quickly typed his answers onto her document. "Can you name some of the main attractions that will be in KaibaLand?"

"Most normal amusement park attractions will be in KaibaLand with many of the usual rides. But the main section is the dueling portion. The KaibaDome is one of the largest stadium structures currently in production around the world. There will be dueling devices in most areas. Almost all of the rides will be equipped with dueling technology. Also, all the images around KaibaLand that are holographic will be made with KaibaCorp technology."

"So KaibaCorp isn't taking technology or products from any other company?" Gail said immediately afterwards.

"Everything will be made by KaibaCorp, except for the rides themselves, which will be overall designed by other companies that KaibaCorp sponsors. The designs for the attractions will all be done by me, but the actual technical descriptions and work will be done by a trusted engineer."

Gail nodded, writing down all Kaiba's answers. But her heart wasn't really in it anymore. That morning had been so exciting for Gail. Finally, she would be able to get information from her client! But Kaiba's arrogant attitude had ruined her mood. Still, he was interesting to talk to.

Gail snapped back a few more questions, writing down quick answers before snapping her laptop shut. "Well," she said, stowing her laptop back in her bag, "that seems like enough questions about KaibaLand for one day, don't you think?"

Gail hadn't expected a reply at all and was rather pleased when Kaiba gave a hum in reply. The young man gazed out into space; his blue eyes were covered ever so slightly by his slight shaggy brown hair. His hair glowed a warm, chocolate color in the sunlight. A breeze found its way over the building, buffeting Gail and Seto. Gail watched as Seto's insane trench-coat fluttered slightly in the wind, his hair gently tossing slightly. He struck an impressive figure, standing on the top of a building with the sun and wind gently playing with his complexion. Gail knew the man was handsome, but felt nothing for him in the slightest. In fact, if she felt anything, it was the complete opposite. A coldness had set in her heart for the arrogant, chilly man. Gail narrowed her eyes. Even an extremely handsome man could not take away her anger now.

**Hmmm...you like it? Then let me know!**

**After Grounded, this story has been a lot less popular. I'm guessing it's because Yu-Gi-Oh! is a much larger fandom, and my story will not get nearly as popular there. It just feels weird after having a hugely popular story...**

**Anyhow, tell me what you thought. I always love to hear from my readers. :)**

**~Pixie**


	5. Fighting and Crying in the Rain

**My amazing Beta reader is getting faster by the day! Awesome job, Dragonguy54321!**

**Anyhow, new chapter, new details. Ancient Greek isn't getting any easier, neither is Physics or Calc, but I'll try to update when I can. I'm sorry I have odd periods when I write and do not write. I'll try to be as consistent as possible.**

**Thank you to the people who have been reading this! I know it's not your usual subcategory, my amazing KI fans, but I hope you'll bear with me. When this story is through, I'll get started on posting (and working on) my KI sequel, which I know you've been waiting for :)**

* * *

Gail sighed and stepped off the trolley in front of a small diner. She had hoped that Kaiba wouldn't be there already, so she could plan a little more. But she had already guessed that the sleek black car in the front of the quaint diner was Kaiba's: she had never seen such an expensive car. As she drew closer, she could just make out the maker of the car: Ferrari. She whistled. The car was gorgeous and sleek, and made Gail think almost of her orange Camaro.

A blast of wind slammed into Gail. The woman drew her tan trench coat tighter around her, glancing up at the dark clouds above her. Storm clouds…living in San Francisco, Gail was used to dark and damp weather, but it seemed at times that there were often more stormy days than sunny ones.

After Gail and Kaiba had parted from the roof, they made plans (or Gail made the plan and Kaiba had no complaint) to meet at a small diner late that evening. Kaiba had left for his hotel and Gail to her apartment, where Gail had spent the rest of the day going over Kaiba's answers to her questions and sorting them neatly into two piles: one for advertisement specifics and one that would make for good article work. After her long writing time, she had lost her blue v-neck and cargoes and donned a pair of jeans and a green crew neck, along with a pair of boots and her trench coat, which thank goodness was nothing like Kaiba's: hers was a simple tan coat that went down to her thighs. None of Kaiba's flamboyance was anywhere in Gail's fashion statement. Kaiba could wear whatever he flipping cared, but Gail preferred to stay slightly, or actually a lot more, conservative.

Gail stepped into the diner, shaking her long, wavy hair out from under her coat. She gave a sigh and gazed around. She had always loved this place, even when she was young. It was like something out of a movie, with the red and chrome color schemes along with the neon lighting in areas. A large neon sign hung from the ceiling, bearing the words "_Lucky Strike Diner"_ in large, curly letters. Gail smiled. She had come here often as a child, back when her parents were still young and had money to spare. But now Gail normally just came for dessert, not having nearly enough money to eat out every night: the apple pie and vanilla ice cream were to die for.

"Gail!" a young slim waitress jumped to Gail's side. "How have you been doing? We haven't seen you around in a while!"

Gail smiled at the woman. "Hey, Vellie! Good to see you! How's life been?"

The woman, Vellie, shrugged as though it really didn't matter, her freckles showing prominently in the bright neon. She was a tall and slim woman, her hair dark and short, and her body very, very feminine. It was no wonder that she was asked out every other day by new male customers. She was curvy and lush, her hips almost always stuck out in some way, making her even curvier than she really was. "It's been going, that's for sure! You here for some pie? Might I suggest taking table four? You don't want to be anywhere _near_ table eight. We've got a live freak show with a silver watch over there! He's a real stick in the mud, that's for sure!"

Gail almost regretted the words that came from her mouth. "It's fine, Vellie. I'm actually meeting that 'freak show' here tonight."

Vellie's expression became serious and dumbstruck all at the same time. "Honey, do you even know that man? He's crabbier than the King I got in the back waiting to be cooked in tomorrow's soup! And you're _dating_ him?!"

Gail threw up her hands. "Are you kidding me?! I'm not dating him! He's a client of mine. I have to deal with that load of crud for a week, and not because I want to! He's a job opportunity, and to tell you the truth, I'd love to get rid of him. He's a real jerk."

Vellie let out a sigh, her head shaking. "Well, I warned you, didn't I? He's in the back booth, arms crossed like he's hiding something in his chest other than those hot abs. You'd better get on over there before he bursts the windows into flame with that explosive glare of his."

Gail allowed herself a slight laugh. Vellie's comments and descriptions were to die for, and had a habit of immediately clearing Gail's mind. Gail took a deep breath, and slowly walked to the back of the diner. Every inch of her screamed to stop, to go somewhere else. Who really wanted to deal with that jerk of a man? But she kept going, blocking out all other sound around her.

And there he was, sitting in a booth all alone, looking more annoyed than ever. And Vellie was right in saying that he was looking out the window with fierce glares. Gail nearly rolled her eyes. Was he upset at the storm or simply the out of doors itself? Gail's immediate after-question was how much time did Kaiba really spend outdoors? He was the CEO of a company that worked with technology. Was he so into his computer and phone that he never saw the light of day? He seemed like one of those men whose offices had no windows at all, and were rather dark actually. Gail shivered. Just _thinking_ about it made her claustrophobic.

Gail slid into the seat across from Kaiba, giving him a quick smile before setting her bag on the table and pulling out her laptop.

"You're seven minutes late, Hanson."

Gail felt an exasperated sigh rise in her chest. So that was how this was going to start, with another argument? Gail would have been happy to oblige if she hadn't made that stupid agreement. Now she was sick of his pestering. It made her want to go back hone and go to sleep.

"Sorry," she said as normally as she could muster, "I was talking with an old friend and got caught up," she glanced at her watch, "but according to my watch, I'm only six minutes slow."

Kaiba checked his wrist and Gail caught sight of his watch. She blinked. It was beautiful of course, probably made of stainless steel or chrome or something of the sort. It was thick, and seemed to be inlaid with what looked like diamonds and sapphires. Then again, Gail wasn't all the surprised. Kaiba was rich enough to buy anything he wanted, and Gail had seen those expensive pieces of jewelry and watches downtown in the nice jewelry shops while window shopping. They were fine-tuned equipment, and absolutely stunning up close.

"Seven minutes, forty-two seconds," was Kaiba's quick reply before covering his watch once again.

Gail shrugged her shoulders, pulling out her legal pad. "Okay, so I'm not sure how long we're going to be here, but I just wanted us to talk tonight, to get to know each other even better. Does that work?"

"You sound like a psychiatrist," Kaiba said bluntly, "but that seems acceptable all the same."

Gail sighed slightly. There really was no pleasing this jerk, was there?

"Good evening!" came a bright, cheery voice. Vellie slid to their booth, her smile wide and notepad at the ready. She laid a set of menus down in front of them. "Can I get you two anything this evening?"

"Apple pie," Gail said immediately, "with vanilla ice cream and a cup of mint tea, please." She had no need to look at the menu, having been here so many times that she had basically memorized it.

Vellie nodded, scribbling down the request with furious speed. She then turned to Kaiba. "And for you, sir?"

"Nothing," he said sharply, not even bothering to look at the menu which was still neatly placed in front of him.

Vellie pointed her pencil at him. "Might I recommend—."

"No, you may not," Kaiba cut her off, blue eyes glaring. "I said no, and I mean no, and none of your feminine charms can change that fact."

Vellie put a hand on her hips, popping a bright pink bubble of gum with an expression that was extremely unimpressed. "I'm sorry, sir. Please forgive me." Gail wasn't sure whether Vellie was being sincere or not. Her body language spoke of exasperation, but her words were clear and calm enough. Either way, she left with a tall stride.

Gail snapped back to Kaiba. "What was that all about? You can't just go around insulting people!"

"I can do whatever I like," Kaiba said, not even gracing her with a glance.

Gail felt a rise of anger fill her chest. "Can't you just stand to be nice to people for once? What is it with you and dissing people?"

Kaiba's cold gaze met hers. "Are people _nice_, Hanson? The world is not a _nice_ place. To people like you, maybe the world has shown its happier side. To us business owners, the world is cruel." His face ended in a scowl, and he gazed back out the window.

Vellie rushed back with a plate of pie and a side of ice cream. "I'll have that tea right away for you, Gail. And this is for you." She set a cup of steaming coffee before Kaiba. Gail sighed slightly in relief. At least Kaiba liked coffee.

Kaiba's eyes narrowed, looking down at the coffee with inspecting eyes. "And what is this?"

"Coffee," Vellie said, "house specialty. You looked a bit peaky, so I grabbed you a cup of coffee."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed even farther. "I asked for nothing."

"Think of it is as a gift for a friend of a friend."

Kaiba left.

Just like that. He got to his feet and without a word left the diner.

Vellie put her hands on her hips. "Well, isn't he just the charmer!"

Gail sighed deeply, getting to her feet. "You might have to put that tea on hold and the pie in the fridge. I have to go after him."

Vellie sighed. "Gail, if I didn't know better, I'd tell you to leave him and ditch the job."

Gail winced. "I wish to high heaven that I could, but I need this job. I'll see you later."

Vellie heaved a large sigh. "Take care, Girlie."

* * *

"How can you be so rude?" Gail snapped as she followed Kaiba out from the diner. He barely glanced at her as he opened his car. "They were just being polite."

"They were idiots, all of them.'

Gail tightened her trench coat tighter around her as a gust of chilly wind bit into her skin. She glared at Kaiba. "Oh, I'm sorry if most humans are polite. I mean, we can't all be jerks like you!"

"If you're going to keep on talking, get in the car."

Gail was slightly taken aback, slightly disappointed that her smart words had no effect on the young adult. Kaiba's piercing stare met hers, and she glared right back, crossing her arms. "Why should I?"

Kaiba's only response was a single slender finger that pointed upwards. Gail's eyes shot to the sky. She stifled a moan at the sight of the huge grey clouds that hung over the city, threatening to spill over. A huge crack of thunder crashed overhead. Gail had forgotten about the storm. And she didn't have her car. She had been hoping to catch a streetcar before the storm hit, but now it looked as though it were too late to do so.

Gail gave a large sigh and walked over, sliding into the passenger seat of the car. Despite herself, Gail had to admit that Kaiba's car, while beautiful on the outside, was just as sleek on the inside. The Ferrari was small, compact, and probably fast. The inside was comfortable, the color scheme a combination of navy blue and black. And as the engine roared to life, the dashboard flashed with color.

The rain had barely let itself be a drizzle before it poured down on the car that drove with a quiet sleekness through the wet night. It took almost two minutes into the ride for Gail to speak into the wordless sound of rain.

"I just don't get how you can be so inconsiderate. If someone who works for you does something that may not be exactly right, what happens?"

"They're fired," Kaiba said simply, his long fingers sliding over the steering wheel.

"Well, I'm surprised your company and your house aren't empty," Gail said, "No one is perfect. Those people might need those jobs, and with one tiny mistake, they're unemployed." She turned to glare at Kaiba in the dark car. "How would you like it if that happened to you?"

Kaiba didn't even bother to look at her. "It never has happened and it never will so there is no use musing over it."

Gail blinked harshly. This man had no sympathy for anyone! He didn't even put the problems in his own terms! There seemed to be no pleasing him. What was this man's problem? He was ultimately the number one most stubborn, idiotic, obnoxious person Gail had ever met in her life. Gail had had enough. She took a deep breath and leaned back in her seat.

"Pull over."

Finally Kaiba's eyes turned to Gail, but Gail had decided not to even glance at him. If he was going to avoid her gaze, then she would avoid his. She could feel his eyes burning into her skull.

"Pull…over," Gail repeated slowly.

Kaiba gazed out into the rain. "You have no way of getting home," he said almost bluntly.

"I can walk," Gail snapped, knowing just as well as he did that her apartment was still over three miles away.

As soon as the car stopped, Gail opened her door, a blast of cold air entering the warm vehicle. Gail's eyes flashed angrily as she glared at the expressionless face across from her. "You know what?" she asked him, her tone harsh, "I've barely known you for a day and I'm already sick and tired of your stupid attitude. Your arrogance sickens me!"

With that, she slid out of the car, slamming the door behind her with as much power as she could muster. She flipped up her collar and crossed her arms over her chest, slowly trudging down the sidewalk in the general direction of her apartment. But with her defiant eyes and harsh expression, it was hard to tell if the water on her cheeks were rain or tears.

Fifteen minutes later, the car had not moved from its parked position. Seto sat inside the car, arms crossed and eyes glaring. He silently listened to the pounding of the rain.

_That stupid, idiotic journalist_, he thought sharply to himself, glaring at the steering wheel as though it were the wheel's fault that the Hanson girl had spoken such hard words, _she things she knows everything! She doesn't know the first thing about business and working! _And he continued on to call her few rather obscene names in about five different languages. He stared out his window, watching the individual drops of water streak down the glass. _She has no idea what she's talking about!_

Seto snarled to himself. _He_ had an attitude? Hanson was one to talk! She was more stubborn than just about anyone he knew, except for maybe Wheeler.

Seto knew for a fact that he was good at keeping his cool. It was similar to the fact that he never let his personal life get in the way of his work life.

So why couldn't he shut this…this _girl_ out of his life?

Seto looked down at his hands. He knew why: because he had shaken on it. Seto never forgot a deal, especially one that he shook on himself. He had made a deal with Gail the day before, when they had met, that they would put aside their stubbornness and many differences and get the job done. It was a grudging handshake, but it sealed the bargain. And Seto, despite what anyone else may think, always kept his deals.

Gail stared down at her feet, forcing her numb legs to move. The cold had slowly inched its way into her veins and nerves and now she could barely feel her heart beating anymore. Every breath let out a puff of heat, which she watched as the rain overcame it.

Every bit of her was soaked, and she could slowly feel a headache pulsing its way into her mind. Her movements were sluggish and slow. She clutched herself tightly around the middle, hoping desperately for any scrap of heat from her sustained position. She had to keep moving. If she stopped, Gail didn't know if she had the energy to start again.

The dark streets of the city were almost empty, only lit by street lights and lights from nearby apartments. Gail could barely make out a few other people walking along, most with umbrellas and raincoats. Gail suddenly longed for a thicker coat.

_Stupid…Kaiba_, she though fiercely, though her mind and heart weren't really in it anymore. She was almost too tired to care altogether. But some spark of anger still remained in her. _If I ever get my hands on him…_

Suddenly Gail felt a hand grip her shoulder and words come from he darkness. "Get in the car."

Gail's self-defense city instincts immediately kicked in. Without thinking, Gail twisted off the half of her coat that had not been clutched to herself and threw up her arm. Flicking her wrist slightly, she held her lower arm, the leather armband belted there now protruding a pair of wave-like steel blades. Gail whirled around in the darkness and swung wildly in a slashing attempt.

With the splitting screech of metal on metal, Gail's one attach came to an end. She stared at her arm, the blades caught on something tubular and metal. She gazed up in amazement at the face that less than an hour ago she had been glaring at with icy eyes. In the light coming from street lamps, his harsh jaw line was even more prominent. His hair was plastered against his head from the pouring rain, and his blue eyes glittered down at her.

"Kaiba?" Gail croaked roughly, shocked by his appearance. She lowered her arm and slid the blades back into her armband. "What are you doing here?"

Kaiba looked back and motioned to the black car that was parked at the edge of the street. "Get in the car."

Gail blinked, her mind muddled with cold and confusion. She pulled her jacket closer around her. "But, I—."

"You're going to catch your death of cold out here," he snapped, interrupting her. His eyes flashed, irritated.

Gail stared at the car and tried to start again with a trembling voice, "B-b-but—."

"You have exactly ten seconds to get in that car before I leave you here and you freeze to death," Kaiba cut off Gail sharply, "Understood?"

Gail slowly began to understand what he was getting at. He had come back for her, and for some reason, wasn't going to leave without her, even after what she had said to him. Gail's anger sparked and died in her chest. Was he really that considerate?

Gail didn't waste any time answering her question. She slowly, for that was the only speed her body would allow her to go, walked over to the car and slid into the passenger seat. Even with the warmth of the inside of the car, Gail still shivered, her teeth chattering. Kaiba slid into the seat next to her and turned on the car.

"Take off your jacket."

Gail looked at Kaiba, forcing her teeth to stop chattering. "W-w-w-what?"

"You'll be warmer." He didn't even glance at her, but kept his eyes firmly on the road in front of him. For some reason, Gail didn't find this avoiding of eye contact nearly so obnoxious. It was more as though he were embarrassed than haughty.

Gail relaxed herself from the seatbelt and slowly began to peel off the soaked coat. It would do her no use now anyways.

As soon as the fabric left her skin, Kaiba turned the heat in his car to full volume, directing the vents all towards the young woman. Gail sighed as the blissful heat met her cold skin.

Gail rubbed her arms and glanced up at the tall imposing figure who sat across from her. His expression was cold, but Gail now assumed that that was probably how he always looked. She bit her lip, shifting slightly in the awkward silence. She cleared her throat. "Thank you."

She gained a grunt from the young man in reply. She took it as a grudging "you're welcome", since she suspected that she was probably never going to get those words out of the gruff teenager's mouth. But Gail wasn't finished.

"Why did you come after me?" she asked, managing to keep her teeth from chattering as she slowly warmed up.

Kaiba was silent for a few seconds, the sound of the pouring rain taking the place of words for a moment. Finally, he spoke.

"We had a deal."

Gail gave a start, surprised. Kaiba had actually remembered that? What about being able to pay off all his deals, because he was so rich and bratty like that?

And yet, now Gail realized that she had probably pegged the teenager wrong. Kaiba had not only remembered their deal, which was extremely minor compared to the deals and contracts he made every day at his company, but he had actually come looking for Gail to make sure that their deal was kept. Despite all of the crappy things that Gail had thought about this man, he sure had a lot of integrity.

Gail felt her cheeks flush slightly and she looked away. "I'm sorry I said all that stuff about you," she said after having taken a deep breath, "My temper often gets me in trouble. And I'm sorry I didn't take out deal more seriously." She winced and glanced at Kaiba before continuing. "To be honest, I didn't really think you'd follow through."

"I always follow through with my deals," Kaiba answered coldly, making a sharp turn.

Gail rubbed her neck in embarrassment. "I'm sorry I judged you so quickly." She let out a long sigh and glanced at Kaiba.

He looked back at her with those blue eyes, but his response wasn't one that Gail was expecting. "Are you getting out of the car or not?"

Gail glanced out her window, realizing with a start that the car had stopped and they were parked right in front of her apartment complex. She turned back to Kaiba, flushing ever so slightly. "Thank you for the ride." When he, of course, didn't respond, she continued. "So, ten o'clock tomorrow at that coffee shot on Market and 4th?"  
"Fine."

Gail nodded decidedly. She grabbed her damp coat from behind her and shrugged it over her shoulders before stepping back out into the rain. She glanced back, her green eyes meeting Seto's. "Thank you." She then closed the door and slowly walked through the rain to her home.

* * *

**Disclaimer: Vellie's name comes from the illustrious, fantastic, amazing Velvet Masquerade. I met her on a forum, and my character wanted her name, which she ever so kindly gave me permission to use. Thanks Vellie!**

**Thank you again to everyone who's reading this. It means a lot to me, it really does. :) Thank you all so much!**

**~Pixie**


	6. Kaiba-Blue

**I feel like every time I update a chapter, I've gotten a bunch of reviews from people asking why my writing is taking so long.**

**Well...life is busy, especially with school and Mock Trial.**

**Anyhow, here's the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy it. If you want to check out my other work, "The Silver City" written for the fandom Exo-Force (which no one seems to know about anymore) feel free to check out my Figment page. I'm under the name "Mary Brophy", and I'm the only one on the site with that name, so I won't be too hard to find! That's the story I'm currently working on. **

**So, sorry for the delay! Over Lent (which starts this Wednesday), my time on the computer will be severely limited, so I may not be able to post the next chapter until April. We'll see.**

**Thanks again for the read!**

* * *

Gail blinked her eyes open, snapping them back shut. She nearly screamed as a white flash of pain struck her mind. She clutched the blankets above her, biting her lower lip as a tear escaped from the corner of her eye. She moaned.

Slowly Gail rose from bed, though every movement caused another shock of agony to enter her brain. She shuffled across her bedroom, her eyes dull and movements slow and pained. She glanced at the clock briefly, the numbers not exactly clicking in her mind. Everything felt slightly off, her world almost spinning before her eyes.

Gail's apartment was small and cozy, with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a connected living room and kitchen. It was a nice size for a girl who lived alone, though if she had a roommate, it would probably have been too small. Only one of the walls had windows, a couch set again the adjacent wall that faced the small television. A few coffee tables and potted plants lined the walls, the soft carpet floor clean and neat. Next to the kitchen and slightly outside of the living room was a large wooden table. It wasn't much, but it was home.

Somehow Gail made it to the kitchen of her apartment, her robe wrapped loosely around her and her steps off. She let out a half moan, sinking into a chair in front of the table. She felt awful, but what about work? She couldn't call in sick, not now. So what was she supposed to do?

Gail looked up, catching sight of something. She inched closer, blinking with winced eyes. It was a glass of water, or at least it looked like that. Next to it was a piece of paper, two white pills placed upon it. Gail cocked her head and read the neat slightly scrawled handwriting on it.

_Don't drive with a headache._

She squinted and read it over and over until the words were comprehended by her aching brain. She recognized the handwriting. It was Kaiba's: she had seen his handwriting when he had signed a few papers for DMM. There was no denying it. He had a neat if maybe tilted handwriting style. It was very legible, but was quick all the same. Basically, it was able to be written fast, but just about anyone could read it. Gail herself had two settings on writing: speedy and scribbled or slow and neat. Despite her brain-dead state, she still felt a stab of jealousy. The problem was with that brainwork came another jab of pain to her head. Gail clutched her hair, holding back tears. She decided not to even try to contemplate how Kaiba managed to get into her apartment.

Gail glanced back at the pills on the table, gently picking one up. Ibuprofen—at least, that was what it said on the top. She looked back down at the note and then to the pills. So Kaiba had put them there and still wanted to meet up with her. But how had he known that she would be sick?

Gail threw the pills into her mouth, grabbing the water and washing them down. She sat there for another ten minutes in agony, trying to piece together a complete thought.

Fifteen minutes later, Gail was out the door, and rushing down to her car, a spring in her step and a smile on her face.

She found Kaiba exactly where she had told him they'd be: at the coffee shop on Market and 4th, sipping a cup of coffee and looking calmer than she had ever seen him. He tapped quickly on the keyboard of the laptop in front of him. Seto glanced up at Gail as she sat down across from him, but other than that, barely acknowledged her existence.

Gail set down her bag, pulling her ponytailed hair back slightly as she set her hands neatly on the table and stared with what she hoped was a pointed expression at Kaiba. "That's the second time you've saved my butt, Seto."

His eyes snapped up from his drink, narrowing slightly. "I might actually respect that if you didn't use my name in the way you do."

Gail shrugged. "Look, you can call me Gail and I'll call you Seto. But that's beside the point. How did you know I was going to be sick and going to be late?"

Seto snorted slightly and rolled his eyes, snapping his laptop shut and sliding it into the bag by his feet. "When you have a twelve-year old brother, you've seen it all. You were stuck in a rainstorm for almost twenty minutes with basically nothing to cover you. It's only logical that you would be sick."

Gail blinked in shock. That was probably the longest statement she had ever heard Seto Kaiba say at one point in time. She shook her head slightly. Maybe now was a good time to get more information about Seto. But she had to ask one last question.

"How did you get into my apartment?"

Seto swirled his coffee cup around, the liquid spinning. "Your door sticks."

The two left the coffee shop and slowly began to walk through the streets of San Francisco. The air was warm, but a chilly breeze kept the two young adults on their toes. People strode around them, talking on cell phones and carrying large bags with store names branding the sides as a cowboy does his horse. They paid no attention to the journalist and CEO, though how anyone could walk by that white coat and not stare was still bemusing to Gail.

"So you have a younger brother?" Gail finally asked, "I didn't know you had any siblings. I thought you were an only child."

Seto nodded. "His name is Mokuba and he's six years younger than I am. He's the vice-president of KaibaCorp."

Gail nodded. It made sense that Seto would have a vice-president that was very close to him. The man seemed so paranoid about his work that any less would have seemed out of character.

The two passed by a couple of boys dueling in an alleyway, calling out card names and slapping them down on the Duel Disks on their left arms. Gail watched with glanced at them with silent interest as they walked beside the alley. "Duel Monsters looks like such a complicated game."

Seto stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes widened slightly. "You've never played?"

Gail shrugged. "It never really appealed to me. It's just so competitive and can get so intense."

"You mean to tell me that you work for one of the largest companies associated with Duel Monsters," Seto said almost in shock, "and you don't duel?"

Gail's eyes met his. "I'm a journalist, not a duelist. I don't really have a lot of time on my hands to play. I know the basics of dueling, seeing as I write about duels all the time, but the strategy behind it is what really fascinates me. I'd much rather write _about_ dueling than play it. I prefer to settle my differences with things other than decks of cards and fancy portable game boards."

"You mean with those things on your arms?" Seto said, shooting a glance at Gail's leather armbands.

Gail held up her arm, showing off the armband. It was rather like a vambrace used in the Middle Ages or even by modern day archers to protect their arms from the sting of a bowstring. It was made completely of leather and wrapped around Gail's arm, buckling over her underarm with silver clasps. But while the sides and bottom were rounded, the top was flat and judging by the angle it stayed, looked extremely hard. Gail flicked her wrist slightly. A pair of long, silver blades in the shape of waves slid out horizontally, almost like steel wings from the sides. With another flick, they rose to a vertical position and clicked into place. They glinted fiercely in the sunlight.

"I have one on each arm," Gail said. "A lot of lawyers in cities like these carry knives in their boots for protection. I attained a pair of these after I went to college. I was paranoid about being attacked, so I had my friend who's into metal-working and leather-working make these for me." Seto looked over the blades expertly. They were around six inches long and three wide, curved into a wave-like shape with the start of the wave at around Gail's wrist, the crest of the wave being at upper middle of her lower arm and the end of the wave ending around an inch below her elbow. "These are only when things get violent," she said slowly. "I have to admit, they've gotten me out of a lot of sticky situations, but when I can, I prefer to use words instead of weapons or games."

Seto's face was one of slight disbelief, as though he could not imagine people not dueling. Gail nearly smirked. _Welcome to America, Seto Kaiba!_

The two pressed on, the crowds more or less lessening over the course of their walk. They made their way past hotels, apartments and shops. It seemed as though everyone had somewhere pressing to go to, as they were all rushing around. Gail felt almost relaxed as she and Seto continued along their stroll.

Gail blinked. "Your name is Japanese, isn't it, Seto?" she relished rolling that beautiful first name over her tongue. It had a certain smoothness to it, like water over pebbles.

Seto's expression was one of annoyed obviousness. "Yes." His glances spoke words of idiocy to her, as though he could not believe that Gail had asked a question like that.

But Gail had just wanted to make sure. "So what does it mean? Japanese names have meanings right?"

Seto's eyes hardened slightly. He paused for a long while before answering. "Turmoil. 'Seto' means 'turmoil'. How fitting…"

Suddenly Gail didn't think Seto was so lucky to have a name like that. It was still gorgeous, but now seemed to have a silky layer of darkness underneath it. She blinked curiously. "What do you mean, 'how fitting'?"

Seto eyes became colder. "It's none of your business, Hanson."

"My name is _Gail_," the blonde said slowly, "and we'll make it another game, because I want to know. I'll go first. What do you think of when you hear _my_ name?"

Seto's eyes met hers, icy once more. "That you're old-fashioned."

Gail snickered slightly. "Well, I guess that's true. It's not as commonly used anymore, but my mother wanted her first child to be named for the fall wind in the month I was born: November. For a boy, it would be spelled G-A-L-E, and for a girl, G-A-I-L. You can guess what happened. My mother never did get that boy she wanted."

"How many sisters?" Seto asked, much to Gail's surprise.

"None," Gail said slowly, "I was an only child until I was orphaned, then…I really was alone."

Seto's pace slowed, his expression giving away nothing. He shot her a quick look, the ice in his eyes looking as though it had suddenly become half melted. "When?"

"Around two years ago," Gail said slowly, "when I was seventeen. Our apartment complex set on fire when I was at school. I came back that day to a place that no longer existed. It was two days before graduation." Her hands made fists, her fingernails digging deeply into her palms. "Do you know how hard it is to walk up the aisle at High School Graduation and not have anyone there to support you? One of the hardest things I've ever had to do was get my High School diploma. I felt I didn't deserve it. The other was reading my parents obituary."

Gail felt a vile bitterness rise in her chest. "The person who wrote my parents' obituary didn't even know my family. He took a bunch of facts from people who did know them and wrote them all down. It was a disgrace. If someone had changed the names and dates of birth and death, it could have been for anyone. That's why I decided to become a writer. Someday when I'm an even better writer, I'm going to write my parents' real obit and have it published in the paper. That's why I went to college, or tried. I had financial trouble in the middle and couldn't support myself fully. But it was there that I learned to write. I've always loved writing, but one of the professors there helped me to become even better. So after I left college, I moved back to 'Frisco and started writing freelance for small newspapers and magazines on dueling. My current boss saw my work and hired me, but it wasn't until Yugi gave me my big break that I really started to do well. And, I've been here ever since."

By this time to two had stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. No one else was on this street, so they were alone. Gail leaned against a brick wall, rubbing tears from her cheeks. Seto stood by, watching with almost emotionless eyes. Almost.

Gail sighed deeply, calming herself down. Every time she talked about her parents, this happened. The issue was that it hadn't been that long ago: Gail could remember coming home on one of the street cars, wondering vaguely why there were emergency vehicles everywhere. It had seemed like such a trivial matter, but in a few minutes, it would change her life.

"My mother died when I was six."

Gail jerked her head up. Seto looked out into the sky, the breezes rushing by playing with his brown hair. His eyes were hard, almost diamond edged. But the words were his.

"My father died a few years later. Mokuba and I were offered to our relatives to take care of. They wanted nothing to do with us and left us at an orphanage. We stayed there for almost four years, until I _convinced _a man to adopt us." The way he said the word 'convinced' as though it were amusing caused Gail to almost smile. What had he done to make this man adopt him? Duel him?

Gail blinked. "So you weren't always a Kaiba?"

"No. Gozuboro Kaiba, previous CEO of KaibaCorp back when it was a weapons supplier for the military, adopted Mokuba and me."

"So," Gail flushed slightly, "sorry for interrupting again, but why was he the only one who would adopt you?"

Seto's eyes met Gail's. "I promised to protect Mokuba. No one was going to split us apart. Only idiots want to adopt a genius and not his younger brother."

Gail nodded slightly, motioning for him to continue.

"Gozuboro trained me in everything I know today, and gave me some nasty scars so I wouldn't forget. It was either me that was tortured by my step-father, or Mokuba. I picked myself."

Gail felt a rise of sorrow for this young man. He was so young and had already been abused and beaten for the protection of the one person he loved. It was heart wrenching. No wonder Seto was so mistrustful and high and mighty. Like Gail, he depended on his job, but it was to keep his brother safe. But why he was telling her all of these things, she didn't know.

"No wonder," Gail breathed, "you're such a jerk to people…it was branded into you."

"Either I had to become this way or Mokuba did, and I wasn't about to let that happen."

Gail swallowed. "When did you become CEO of KaibaCorp?"

Seto glanced back at the sky. "When I was twelve."

"How did you manage that?"

Seto's eyes avoided Gail's. "By using what Gozuboro taught me against him."

They were silent after that. Gail didn't feel like asking the young man anything else. She was a journalist and was used to asking personal questions. It was her job to be nosy and inquisitive. But this…this felt as though she were going too far. It was invading more privacy than she would like, and even then, Seto looked as though he didn't want to continue talking anymore. His face had closed completely of emotion, his eyes icy and glassy. Gail couldn't take her gaze off of those eyes. They were absolutely gorgeous, a very particular shade of blue that she had never seen before. His eyes were icy in expression, but definitely not in color: they were much too dark for that.

"What color are your eyes?"

Seto gave her a look that could basically be described as "_Were you just born stupid or did you fall out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down?_" At least, that was how Gail saw it.

Gail rolled her own emerald green eyes. "I know they're blue, idiot, but what shade of blue?"

"I don't normally go around defining people's eyes by shade, Gail."

Gail had to keep herself from smiling at the sound of her name and how amazing it sounded coming from Seto's lips. "No, really, I mean it! I've been trying to figure it out since we first met. Would you say navy blue, or more of a light midnight blue?"

Seto turned away. "Whatever."

"Can I call them Kaiba-Blue? That would be cool. Seto Kaiba has Kaiba-Blue eyes…it'd be a really cool way to describe you in the article, even if no one understood it." Gail smiled when Seto began to walk away, his back to her. "You know you love it, Seto! Admit it!" She chuckled to herself when Seto did nothing to acknowledge her. _He knows he loves it!_

* * *

"So she's not so bad after all!" Mokuba's voice was cheerful.

Seto shrugged, lifting his shoulders off the bed to do so as he held the phone to his ear. "She could be worse," he answered gruffly.

"So what did you do today?"

Seto thought back. It was surprising how he had actually managed to enjoy the day…but that was only slightly, of course. Seto barely liked anything, so he was rather amazed that he had enjoyed the day as much as he had. After their heavy, deep and real discussion, the two had set out to a small open park where they had spent the rest of the day discussing business, after getting something to eat. Seto hadn't had that interesting of a talk since he was thirteen and discussing statistics with an elderly man who had at one point worked in Kaiba Mansion. The thing was that Gail was so stubborn, that Seto put it as a personal challenge to make her see eye to eye with him about business matters. But Gail was as stubborn as Seto credited her for. There were only a few things that Seto could change her mind about. The fiery young adult was extremely interested in KaibaCorp and scribbled down a few of Seto's answers on a small notebook for her article.

"Satisfactory," Seto said rather nonchalantly.

"Liar," came Mokuba's teasing voice over the other end of the line, "you had more fun than you're admitting. Did you go to an amusement park to get ideas for KaibaLand?"

Seto rolled his eyes. "Production for KaibaLand has been underway for almost a year now. There's nothing to add."

"Well, if you didn't go to an amusement park, where did you go? Did you have ice cream?"

"We went to a park and talked, Mokuba."

"Did you go on the swings?"

Seto snorted. "How old am I?"

"Eighteen…almost nineteen…you can never be too old for the swings, Seto."

"You keep telling yourself that," Seto said with a smirk, "Have you been keeping up with schoolwork?"

"Mmmhmm," Mokuba acknowledged with a hum, "but without you, it takes a lot longer."

"Good," Seto answered, "you're learning. Now I have statistics to look at, so I hope you have a good night."

"Will you be up all night again?"

Seto glanced at his laptop, looking at the documents up. "Not necessarily. But I might. Now go to sleep."

"Good night," Mokuba said happily before hanging up the phone.

Seto set down his now dark iPhone, grabbing his laptop as he slid into a sitting position. He brought the laptop into his lap and pulled up his email, glancing briefly at the inbox. He frowned at the single unread email at the top of the screen.

**Gail Addison Hanson**: Subject: Meeting Place

Seto glanced at the name and clicked the email, sighing slightly.

Dear Seto, (It read)

Just a quick question: where would you like to meet tomorrow? At Market and 4th, or would you like to pick this time? Tell me ASAP.

Gail

Seto rolled his eyes. It was bad enough that Gail had started to call him Seto, but now she was using his personal email instead of his business one to contact him? What was the world coming to?

He ignored the message for now. Gail could wait: Seto had important work to do, though to him, all work he did was important. At this point, Gail was superfluous. Work came before anyone, except for Mokuba. Mokuba was special.

Seto flipped through page after page of documents, grant proposals, partnership proposals, paperwork for production permission, producer information…Seto grabbed his mug of coffee off his bedside table, sipping the hot liquid. He was on his second cup of coffee, and by the end of the night would probably have consumed at least five more. Seto ran off of adrenaline and caffeine on work nights (A.K.A. every night). He hadn't slept in…he couldn't really remember. It took him around four days to get sluggish, but if he pushed through, a week had become his awake time record. The only problem was after that, he had crashed for almost eighteen hours. His body hadn't been able to keep up with him that time, and he had awoken crabby that he hadn't been able to use that time for work. So it cycled.

Seto was on day six of an all nighter streak, which meant that tomorrow he'd actually have to sleep. That meant extra work tonight in order to do that. Seto scrawled down a few notes on his iPhone and returned to work. He would have to work twice as hard to get all this work done. He sipped his coffee again. Well, working hard was something he was good at. Seto didn't always stay awake, though. On particularly slow or stressful weeks, Seto would actually sleep every night. He needed the rest in order to keep his mind in top shape, and he would nap in between all nighter weeks, but he knew what he was doing. So far, Seto hadn't hit his limit.

Seto stopped and glanced down at his coffee, swirling the dregs, his mind suddenly on Gail. It wasn't odd or anything, he was just thinking about her email. Would _he_ like to pick? Seto scoffed. Where on earth would he pick if he even _did_ make a choice? If Seto had his own way, he would be back at Kaiba Mansion right now, working. What did he love more than working and being with Mokuba? He glanced down. Coffee was close up there on that list.

He glanced around the hotel room, hoping for sudden inspiration, but found nothing. He looked back to his work, slowly pressing the start button and scrolling through the programs list. The mouse hovered over a folder, one that he rarely relied on, but now seemed like a good idea: Games.

Seto pulled up the games folder and sifted through it, mumbling every few games he passed. Minesweeper…always interesting but not now; Solitaire was fun but not productive, same with Freecell. He had beaten every level off all of the games on this computer, but one always jumped back at him. He flitted though until he found it: Chess.

Seto was the World Chess Champion and wasn't bragging when he said so. It was extremely true. His stepfather had been the champion of chess before Seto had been, but Seto had beaten his stepfather the first time they met, changing his life forever.

Seto nearly smiled as he started up a game. He had beaten the computer every time he had ever played, but it was still relaxing to kick back and play a few rounds of chess.

Seto blinked, stopping for a second. Chess…

**(*lets out long sigh*) My sister is bugging me to get off the computer, so I'll make this quick.**

**Thanks again for the read! I'll update as soon as my wonderful beta Dragonguy54321 and I actually get around to discussing the next chapter. Again, with Lent I might be delayed for a period of 40 days, so you might not hear from me in a while.**

**Again, thank you all so much!**

**~Pixie**


	7. Shirtless and Sexy

**I love my editor :) He checks over my work even when he's pulling all-nighters in order to study. Talk about dedication! Thank you so much Dragonguy54321! You are amazing, checking over my story even when you know nothing about YGO. **

**So, enjoy the next chapter! I'm having fun with this...maybe a little too much fun :)**

* * *

"I can't believe you beat me ten times in a row," Gail moaned, laying her head in her hands in an exasperated manner, "I thought I was actually pretty good at chess!"

Seto's long, quick fingers immediately reset the board. The two young adults were back at the coffee shop on Market Street, but Seto had brought along one of his many chessboards. Seto had chessboards all over his mansion, used for playing on and for simple decoration. Glass, wood, marble…Seto had chessboards and pieces of all different materials and all different sizes. There was even a life sized one in the depths of the garden that only Mokuba and Seto had been to before, seeing as the garden was too confusing for anyone else to get through. If there was one thing Seto was absolutely obsessed with besides Duel Monsters, it was chess.

Gail smiled and moved her first piece. "How on earth did you get so good?"

Seto's almost smile died before it could be counted as one. "I studied the best player and beat him."

Gail's eyes widened. "Wow, really? So you're the World Chess Champion, right? I read about that somewhere. Who was it that you beat?"

"My stepfather."

Gail blinked. "Did he just teach you or—."

"He never taught me chess," Seto said quietly, "I watched matches for hours and copied them until I learned to piece the best ones together into strategies. I beat Gozuboro when he came to the orphanage and, after doing so, had him adopt us." Seto looked at the board in front of him, already planning out the next form of attack that would be best. Why he was telling Gail all of these things, he wasn't sure. Maybe because of what went on the day before. He had spilled a lot of his background there, but it only seemed fitting that he told her his story after she dropped all of hers on him. Of course, if it had been someone like Wheeler, he probably would have shrugged off the idea of telling his story with a few sharp words about the fairness of life. But with Gail, he almost felt an obligation to say something just as painful as she had.

"Let me guess, you made a deal with him and basically bet your life on it?"

Seto shrugged apathetically. "You could say that." He moved his piece. "Checkmate."

Gail leaped up. "You just beat me in three turns! What the…" she snorted and sat back down, arms crossed, "well that's what I get for playing chess against the world champion. What if we played checkers, huh? I bet I could beat you at that!"

Seto rolled his eyes and smirked. "Don't bet on it."

Ten minutes later, Gail glared down at a board empty of her black game pieces.

"You can win checkers too," she growled.

Seto crossed his arms triumphantly. "Would you like to pick out another game?"

Gail suddenly smirked, an odd look after her defeat, but one that could only mean trouble. "I've already picked one." She bent down and pulled a pack of cards from her bag, setting them on the table. "You good at cards? Other than Duel Monsters, of course."

Seto blinked. He hadn't played cards in a long time, at least not with poker cards. But he wasn't going to let Gail know that. "Good enough to beat you," he said smoothly.

Gail's smirk widened as she shuffled the cards through practiced fingers. "Can you play Cocaine?"

Seto rose an eyebrow.

"Not the drug, stupid!" she scoffed, bridging the cards and shuffling again, "Though I guess it might be called that because of how addicting it is." She split the deck in half and set it before him. "The goal of this game is to lose all of your cards. We each start with half the deck, which we can't look at. At the same time, we flip four cards in front of us. If either of us has the same two numbers, you have to slap a card over each, getting rid of our card."

"And if I have two cards of the same number in front of me?" Seto asked, his mind immediately picking out the exception.

Gail shrugged. "You do the same. If you see two cards anywhere, you slap cards on top of them. I'll be trying to do the same from my side. It's all about speed and accuracy." She gave Seto a mocking smile. "Would you like a practice round first?"

Seto grabbed his half-deck and held it in his hands. "No practice."

Gail shrugged. "Your loss. Go!"

The two of them slapped down their four cards, their eyes moving rapidly as they searched for doubles of any card. Gail slapped down a few cards over a pair of eights, a new pair arising from one of the new cards and an older one. Seto took one of them, Gail taking the other. They slapped down cards until there were no more pairs, then slid the cards now in front of them into a pile, put them at the bottom of their decks, and began again. Faster and faster they went until their hands were a blur over the table, slapping down card after card.

Gail growled as the round ended, her green eyes frantically searching for another pair. "This game really gets you paranoid about your eyesight," she said fiercely, tugging down one of her long, sky-blue sleeves that had been pulled slightly up her arm by the speed at which she had been moving, "After a while, your eyes start to play tricks on you. You think that there _must_ be a pair, even when there's not."

Seto rolled his eyes and picked up his cards, slapping down a new four as Gail did and then jumping back into the game.

It was a long game. When one person had the lead, suddenly the other would slap down a rapid string of cards, putting them equal again. Gail had experience in playing, but Seto was fast.

Finally, Seto slapped down his last few cards, slamming down his palms on the piles before Gail could place another card down. "I win." He nearly smiled, but held back the expression of actual happiness. Instead he gave Gail a smirk, leaning back and crossing his arms in triumph.

Suddenly Seto jerked forwards, nearly crying out as a sharp pain stabbed into his back. He flinched roughly, twisting around. But the movement just caused another burst of pain to splice into his back. He sat more rigid, stifling any motions of weakness.

Unfortunately for him, Gail had already realized something was wrong. She blinked in concern at the young man. "Seto, are you alright?"

"Never better," he replied through gritted teeth, trying hard not to move.

Gail stood and walked behind Seto. It took much of Seto's concentration not to turn back and observe exactly what she was doing.

"You got a splinter and a big one at that," came Gail's voice from behind him, "Your movements must have been enough to barely shift the wooden pieces of the chair. And when you leaned back and slid down just slightly, a huge splinter slid into your back."

"How do you know this?" Seto forgot about being still and turned around, a piercing pain stabbing him in reward. He winced and gazed down at the back of the chair he sat in. Gail was right: the boards looked as though they had shifted and it was easy to tell where the sliver of wood had been stripped, as the area was lighter in tone than the rest of the glazed wood. His eyes narrowed even farther at the length of the patch of revealed lighter wood. It must have been a long splinter.

Seto let off a string of curse words, none in English thankfully. Gail still gazed at him in amazement though as he spewed out a few Arabic, German, Greek, and Swedish swear words.

"Well there's no need to react like that!" Gail said roughly when Seto finally took a breath of air. "Can you stand?"

Seto slowly rose to his feet, biting his tongue to keep from swearing again as more pain rushed through the sensitive nerves in his back. Still, he managed to keep standing, his back rigid and head high. He wasn't sure how much pain walking would do.

"Good," Gail said decidedly, "now let's get to my apartment."

Seto blinked in slight confusion. "Wait…what?"

Gail whirled around, her eyes calm behind her half-moon glasses and ponytail whipping back and forth. "Who else is going to get that splinter out?"

* * *

Gail was extremely nervous about bringing Seto into her home. Her mother would never approve, she just knew it. Gail shook her head. No, she was an adult now. She made her own decisions, and what she was doing was for Seto's good. There were no strange intentions here.

Seto sat with a straight back and arms crossed across his chest grumpily in Gail's car. Gail rubbed her hands over the smooth steering wheel. Her Camaro…Gail smiled. She loved her car. After dropping out of college, Gail had used all of the money she had saved from her extra job in order to get this car: a Chevrolet Camaro, the color a shade that the dealers liked to call 'Inferno Orange Metallic'. Whatever it was, Gail was surprised that someone had used a car and had grown tired of it after such a short time using it. She had gotten it very fairly priced, with only a few hundred miles on it. This car took Gail on all her writing adventures.

And here it was doing the same.

Gail slid her car neatly into the parking lot for her apartment building. She quickly turned the car off. If Seto weren't in the car, Gail probably would have had the radio on. Her listening preferences were very limited: news and classic rock. Sometimes she would flip to a pop station and sing along with the popular tunes, but she really preferred oldies, what her parents used to listen to.

Gail opened her door and slid out, Seto doing the same on the other side but with much slower, stiffer movements. He grimaced every time he turned at all. Gail winced in pity. Seto was still a jerk sometimes, but splinters were no fun.

Gail clicked her keys before tossing them into the air and pocketing them, the lights on her car flashing as the doors locked. "My apartment isn't far now. I'm on the fifth level, so we can take the elevator. That way you can walk less."

Seto nodded stiffly, his face pinched in pain.

The walk from the parking lot to the building was slow, but walking to the elevator was slightly quicker as the floor of the apartment complex was flatter and neater than the outdoors. Gail and Seto walked into the empty elevator. Gail gently pushed the button labeled '5' and the two leaned back to wait.

The silence than ensued was slightly awkward, but not nearly so much as the first elevator ride the two had taken at DMM building. Gail nearly smiled. It had only been three days ago, but Gail already found it surprising how much both Seto and herself had changed. He was less crabby and she was less judgmental and argumentative. Of course the two of them still got into their spats over small things, but nothing like before. At least, so far they hadn't.

The door dinged open. Gail stepped out, waiting as Seto followed even slower. It was as though his very step were sending aches of pain all over him: his hands were clenched, his shoulders back, his neck stiff, and his movements similar to that of a robot. Gail motioned to the left. "My apartment's this way."

Luckily her apartment was close. She stood in front of it, smiling: the number 519 shone on the front in brass numerals: her home. She pulled out her keys and wrestled with the lock for a few seconds, managing to unlock the door. It seemed that that door always stuck.

Gail opened the door and walked into the room, Seto following close behind. As Gail headed into the kitchen to set her bags down, Seto continued onward into the living room. His cold eyes inspected everything, his head turning slightly so he might be able to see the whole room. Gail was suddenly very glad that she had spent the time the night before and cleaned her house from top to bottom. Hopefully there was nothing Seto could criticize.

Gail walked past the living room and into the small hallway, but poked her head back for a split second. "You can take off your shirt in here and just set it on the couch."

Seto blinked in surprise, his normally pale cheeks flushing ever so slightly in color. "What?"

Gail sighed. Did he really think that her even _asking_ him to do this without getting flustered was easy? "How else do you expect me to get out a splinter? If your shirt has any blood on it, we can wash it here as well." And with that, she left him there and walked into her bathroom. She opened up a drawer, pulling out her small nail kit. She slowly unzipped it, inspecting the inside. All she would need were the tweezers and cuticle scissors. She grabbed the two of them and left for her bedroom.

Gail opened her closet and grabbed a small basket from the top shelf of her closet. Opening it, the smell of aged fabrics and threads wafted over her. She took a deep whiff, the smell wreathing around her in a way that perfumes could not. Her mother had taught her the art of stitching and sewing, repair jobs mostly, but she could tack and hem fairly well. It had turned out to be a useful skill as she lived on her own: she had no need to bring her clothes to a seamstress or a tailor to have a low v-neck tacked or a dress length shortened: she could do all of that herself.

In the small tomato shaped cushion was exactly what Gail was looking for. Pins stuck all over the small pincushion, their brightly colored tops looking rather like small, extremely colorful disfigurements covering a dead fruit. Gail pulled out one of the sharp needles, holding it by its bright yellow top. She tapped her finger gently with the pin, withdrawing the glinting object before it could cause any real harm. It was definitely sharp enough to get the job done.

"Alright, I found the—." She broke off as she walked back into the living room and turned to face Seto. She tried to force down the heat that rose in her cheeks, but could not do so.

Seto neatly folded his shirt, turning around and setting it on the couch next his already folded trench coat and his metal armbands, but not before Gail caught a glimpse of his chest. The young man was seriously ripped. His abs showed neatly along his abdomen, arms powerful in muscle, and chest flat. Even with his back turned to her, all Gail could notice were his hard shoulder blades and his perfect skin, free of any blemishes. Seto turned to face Gail. With his coat off, he looked less intimidating and not nearly as tall. But Gail couldn't help but stare at his chest, the Duel Monster card pendent on the necklace he always wore hanging down right in the center of his upper body. How did someone who wore black turtlenecks almost all of the time manage to have such nice skin? It was beautiful! With all the clothes he normally wore, Gail had never seen just how powerfully built Seto was: did he work out every day or something…in the sun?

Gail had ignored the fact for a long time, but could now no longer accept her initial and stubborn false thoughts: Seto Kaiba, number one jerk on the face of the Earth and probably one of the richest, was absolutely gorgeous.

Gail swallowed hard and whipped around walking into the kitchen. She hurriedly turned on one of the gas stove tops, setting the pin over the heat for a few seconds before pulling it out again. She did the same for the tweezers and the scissors.

Gail turned back and held the three small, silver devices in her palm. "I heated them to kill any germs off, just in case." She tried to look Seto in the eyes, avoiding the chest and abdominal muscles just below. She tried to keep from blushing any farther.

Seto's eyes narrowed. "Do I look like I'm in the mood for a Biology lesson?"

Gail pinched her lips, her one thought, _No, you most certainly do not…unless it's about the human body…_ She nearly smacked herself in embarrassment. Why was she thinking these things? Beautiful or not, Seto was still a pain in the butt, but what else was new? She forced her odd thoughts from her mind and growled, walking over to Seto and holding out the sharp objects in her hands. "See these? They are shiny and sharp and they hurt. If you don't do what I say, you get poked…understood?"

"Are you threatening me?" Seto's eyes narrowed even farther.

"I don't know! Am I?" she glared right back at Seto, holding the pin higher. "Alright, now I want you to bend over—."

"Why?" came Seto's first interruption.

"Because," Gail snapped back, "I personally don't want to have to stand on a chair in order to reach your back. Also, it'll help push the splinter out. Got it?"

Seto gave Gail one last long glare before turning around and bending over, a slight moan revealing the pain that the splinter still caused. Gail went to one side and stood over him, leaning over and searching his back for the splinter's entrance area. She didn't have to look far: the point where the sliver had entered had grown inflamed in the hour or so since the incident. It was around the size of a dime and was red with angry skin.

Gail reached down to begin the 'procedure', but stopped and let her hand hover over the man's back. She was suddenly extremely timid. She could do this, no question, but it would take some time. And having her hands all over a man's back…it was almost wrong to Gail. And the fact that the man before her was extremely attractive seemed to make the situation all the worse.

"Well, are you going to start?" came Seto's crabby voice.

Gail swallowed. "Yeah, I was just finding the splinter. To start, I'm going to do a little probing. This might hurt a bit, but I need to see how big the splinter is. Okay?"

"Just get to it already."

Gail twisted her face in annoyance, but did as Seto said. She gently and very slowly laid her hand on Seto's back. Warmth flowed along Gail's chilly fingers, instantly heating hers. Gail blinked in surprise. For someone with such cold eyes, Seto's skin was amazingly warm. Maybe it came from wearing all those long sleeved shirts. Either way, Gail was pleasantly surprised.

Slowly Gail prodded around the red spot on Seto's back with her pin, feeling around for anything hard. Seto's back muscles clenched slightly as Gail touched a particularly tender spot.

Gail suddenly felt it: a long, rather large thick bump. She ran the pin tip gently over the spot, feeling the length. Of course, because the sliver of wood went under and into the skin, Gail wouldn't be able to determine the length completely, but from what Gail could feel, it was long and thick.

"Alright," Gail breathed slowly, "Now we get into the painful stuff. I'm going to start pulling and snipping parts of your skin away so I can get to the splinter. I can't do much to filter the pain, so you'll just have to bear with me on this. It's not going to be fun."

"Where is it?" Seto asked, turning his head around to look at his back.

Gail poked the area gently with her finger so Seto could feel it. "Right here. And try not to move so much. If you want, we could do this on the couch where we could sit."

Seto straightened up, wincing as he did so, and stepped over to the cushioned couch, leaning over. Gail sat next to him, tools in hand. She resumed her position of leaning over him, holding a pair of scissors in one hand and a pair of tweezers in the other.

"Here we go."

The work was long and tedious. Gail poked and prodded, trying to get a good view of the splinter as she used the tweezers and scissors to snip and pull away skin around the red area. Seto's muscles rippled and flinched whenever Gail pressed farther into a deeper layer of skin. So far there had been no blood, but Gail wasn't all the surprised: she had barely gotten past the second layer of skin, as she was working extremely slowly.

"It's like playing Operation," Gail said with a half-laugh.

"Yeah," Seto murmured sarcastically, "but my nose doesn't light up if you make a false move."

"Wanna bet, Rudolph?" Gail answered with a smirk.

Seto turned his head and growled. "You wouldn't dare—!"

"Quit moving!" Gail said, gripping Seto's brown hair and shoving his head back down to its earlier position. Gail almost didn't want to let go: Seto's hair, besides being a nice shade of milk-chocolate-brown, was also extremely soft. Gail had the sudden girly urge to grab his head and fluff his hair, running her fingers through it.

Gail resisted her longing and went back to work. She placed a hand on Seto's shoulder blade to steady herself as she used the cuticle scissors and snipped away more skin. Gail wished that there were some other way to get the splinter out faster, but the only way she knew how was to cut down the skin until the splinter poked through. And so she did, though Seto's sharp intakes of breath through gritted teeth and his muffled moans were starting to cause her worry.

"I found the splinter," Gail said after what seemed like hours, using the tweezers to gently touch the dark spot that was now revealed, stuck in the skin.

"All that wasn't the splinter?" Seto said between breaths, his tone almost incredulous.

Gail shook her head, almost forgetting that Seto could not see her. "No, that was getting to the splinter. Now we can actually work on getting it out. I have to do this carefully though, or else I might break the splinter and only get half of it out. Then I wouldn't be able to get the rest."

"Then be careful." Seto said with a growl.

Gail rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh. _Like I didn't already know that…_

She gently took the splinter between the tweezers pointed tips, getting a grip on the dark wood. She gently wiggled the silver tool in her finger. "Could you lean over a bit more?"

Seto arched his back, bending over even farther. The splinter slid ever so slightly out of its hole, sticking it out a little more. Gail slid her tweezers up slightly, getting a better grip. "Okay, I'm going to pull the splinter out now. This is going to feel either really weird or really painful, so keep still."

Gail felt Seto's muscles clench underneath her hand in preparation.

Gail took a deep breath and slowly began to pull the sliver from under the skin. The long dark splinter gripped at the flesh slightly and Gail had to tug slightly harder to loosen it, wincing at the sound of Seto's stifled moan. But she continued.

Gail lifted up the long splinter to the light as the last bit of it slid out into her palm, doused in the blood of the victim. It was much too long for comfort, being as thin as a needle but around as long as the top two digits of her pinky finger.

"Is it out?" Seto asked warily, turning his head very slightly.

Gail sighed in relief. "Out," she confirmed, "See for yourself."

Seto turned around and sat slightly straighter, looking upon the small wood slice with cold eyes. "Good riddance," he snapped, flattening down his tousled hair and smoothly wiping his slightly sweaty face, though to Gail, the messy hair and sweat were a rather nice touch.

He stood and slid back on his black turtleneck, placing his metal armbands back on his lower arms, and sliding his white trench coat over everything. He stepped away from Gail, walking to the door and opening it.

Gail leapt to her feet. "Hey, do you need me to drive you somewhere? If you want, I can make you something to eat or get you something to drink."

Seto turned back to Gail, his eyes narrowed. "No, thank you." And with that, he opened the door and left, shutting the door closed behind him.

Gail blinked in surprise, sinking back into her couch slowly. He had left so fast…and without even a by your leave. Gail sighed and walked over to the kitchen, setting her tools on a countertop. She would clean them later. Right now she just needed something to drink.

Gail grabbed a clean glass and filled it with water, leaning against the fridge and staring out into her living room as she sipped the cool liquid. _So inconsiderate_, Gail thought harshly, _After all that work, he didn't even thank me. What's up with that?! I give up my whole afternoon in order to help this guy who I barely even know! And how does he thank me? _Gail growled slightly to herself.

_Well…_ Gail thought slowly, _I guess this did take his whole afternoon as well, and he does have a huge company to go and run…maybe he's just busy._ She smiled almost secretly to herself, taking another sip of her water. _And…just saying…he did look pretty dang hot with his shirt off!_

* * *

"So, how was your day, Seto?"

Seto forced himself from a snarl. "Fine."

His younger brother's perky voice was slightly dampened with suspicion. "Nothing happened with Gail?"

"No," Seto lied easily, "we played chess, checkers, and cards and then talked the rest of the day."

"About what?" Mokuba asked slowly.

Seto huffed slightly. "Mokuba, do you really have the want for me to go through my entire day and give you the sincerest details to everything?"

"Yes."

"Well I don't really have time at the moment to tell you," Seto finally snapped, fingering his laptop. He turned sharply to grab a legal pad that lay behind him on his bed. Seto stifled a groan as pain stabbed up his back. It would take at least a day for the inflammation to go down and so far, he still hurt, much to his aggravation. He held up the pad of paper and scanned through it. "I have to check over three new grant proposals, write at least five new documents for the proposal of collaborating with new companies because the incompetent fools who did them first handed in unsatisfactory work, check the stocks to make sure not all one company is buying up stock and is planning to take my company over, a few more—."

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Mokuba yelped, "You're busy." Seto heard Mokuba give a loud sigh over the speaker. "Do you ever take a break from working?"

"All this time I spend with Gail is already taking up too much work-time," Seto growled. "Because of her, I've been working overtime at night." He stifled a yawn.

"I heard that," Mokuba said hurriedly, "you're tired, I know it! This would be your seventh day in a row with no sleep. You can't do that! You have to sleep, now!"

Seto rubbed his eyes, a salty wave of weariness crashing over his body, tugging at his skin and giving him a great longing to fall on his bed and crash. But Seto resisted. "Mokuba, I'm much too busy. I have too many things to finish up—."

"That's no excuse," Mokuba said sternly, "Would you rather sleep for one night or be sick for a week? My teacher told me that the longer you stay awake, the weaker your metabolism and immune system become. So now, I _order_ you to go to sleep!"

"Mokuba, I'd love if you had the authority to tell me that, I really would," Seto said tiredly, "but I am way too busy to sleep now."

"Seto, you're always busy! If you don't stop being busy right now, then you're going to get sick or actually fall asleep sometime in the middle of the next few days. Do you want Gail to have to deal with you as a wreck?"

"What is it with today and people bossing me around?" Seto snapped. "Mokuba…if I could—."

"You can!" Mokuba cut his brother off with a tone of voice that mimicked Seto's own icy one. "You have free will, right? So go to sleep! I know for a fact that you didn't sleep last night like you told me you might. You pulled another all nighter."

Seto leaned back on his bed and sighed deeply. He really wanted nothing more than to undress himself and slide into the comforts of the warm bed, but businesses didn't run themselves. There was so much work to be done and so little time to do it. What was Seto to do?

Finally Seto gave a loud huffing sigh. "Fine, Mokuba, I'll go to bed."

Mokuba's cheer over the other end of the line was close to deafening: Seto was forced to hold the phone a little away from his ear to keep from losing his hearing. He gave a half-smile at his brother's antics. Mokuba, while he was a Kaiba, meaning brilliant, powerful, and persuasive, was still a child and had a child's heart through and through.

"If you don't get to bed and are lying about this," Mokuba said loudly, "I'm going to take over KaibaCorp and chain you to your bed!"

Seto snorted and rolled his eyes. "I'll go to bed Mokuba, just make sure that you're going to bed as well."

"I always go to bed on time."

Seto allowed himself another eye roll. "Sure, Mokuba, whatever you say."

"Good night!"

"Good night, Mokuba," Seto said quietly as he pulled his phone away from his ear and turned it off. He leaned again on his bed, sighing deeply. His body ached, every muscle screaming for him to crash down and sleep. He almost wanted to deny what he had just agreed to Mokuba and instead work for another night. But Seto had no reason to anger his younger brother. So he slowly walked to his large suitcase and began to change his clothes for bed.

* * *

**You know, the only reason I wrote about the splinter is because it actually happened to someone in my class...in class! A guy in my class was leaning against this old wall, made of wood, and slid down it. A splinter slid into his back and he had to pull off his shirt and have on of my classmates take tweezers to him.**

**Imagine trying to act out a play with a random shirtless guy in the corner wincing and groaning every once in a while as he is stabbed in the back.**

**Yeah, that's what I though.**

**Anyhow, thanks for reading! I'll get the next chapter to you soon...I hope. By the way, if you're looking for a change of pace, I linked the site where my current book is up on my profile, so if you want to read my Exo-Force book and PM me in response, that would be great.  
**

**Pixie**


	8. Carla M Medici, Ace Reporter

**Abdominal workouts hurt...a lot...actually, Jillian Michael's workouts just hurt a lot. **

**Sorry about that. I just finished with this intense workout and now I'm probably sweating all over the keyboard. Anyhow, thanks for being patient with me! I've been working my butt off on another story while waiting for my beta to finish this, so I'm pretty imagined out. But there's nothing a goodnight sleep can't fix!**

**I should probably be studying for that Ancient Greek quiz tomorrow...**

* * *

Gail picked up her phone, pushing the redial button for what seemed like the millionth time. She held the small device to her ear, letting the other line ring until the voice mail hit. Gail closed her phone before the smooth female voice on the other end could ask her to leave a message: Gail had probably already left at least ten of them.

Gail sighed and slid the phone back into her pocket, breathing slowly as she gazed across the booth table to the empty bench ahead of her. She had been sitting here for almost an hour, and had called Seto at least twenty times with no answer. She checked her watch again. She had called Seto early in the morning and had gotten his voicemail. She had told him to meet her at the diner that day, before nine. And so far, Seto hadn't replied back and hadn't shown up. Gail had even called the coffee shop to make sure he wasn't there, but so far no one had seen a tall man with brown hair and blue eyes who glared excessively at people in the shop.

"Do you want some more coffee, Gail?" Vellie's voice was wary and concerned as she walked up to Gail's booth holding a steaming pot.

Gail shook her head. "No thanks, Vel. I really don't need any more and I had better be getting to work since Seto hasn't shown."

Vellie put her free hand on her hip, lips pursing. "I told you he was bad news, Girlie. He's got worse in him than the back fridge that hasn't been opened in six months, and that's saying something."

Gail shook her head slowly. "It's not that. I mean, Seto usually answers his phone, especially if you call him over three times: he can be really temperamental. It's odd…it's as though he's lost it or something."

Vellie pointed her pencil at Gail. "Look, dear, just accept that he left you and he's not coming back."

Gail rolled her eyes. "It's not like we were dating or anything…actually, quite the opposite. But he wouldn't just leave: he needs this ad done. He's polite enough to tell me when he changes plans."

"Sure about that?"

Gail pinched her lips. "Yes, I am. At least, I'm pretty sure I am…it's just odd. Seto's always right on time, even early if he can manage it. Why would he be late today specifically?"

"Because you ticked him off faster than a dog in an alley."

Gail rolled her eyes at her friend's odd comments. "Well, there's no use brooding over it. I might as well go to the office and start writing. I've only got until Friday to finish the ad."

"Five days left," Vellie commented, "Think you'll be able to crack this man in time?"

"I kind of already have," Gail said slowly, "he's been opening up a lot more lately."

"Well anyone who can snap a jawbreaker like that is on my top-ten list!" Vellie said with a smile and a pop of her bubblegum.

Gail sighed and pulled her bag higher on her shoulder. "Well, I'll see you later, Vel."

Vellie waved goodbye as she cleared Gail's mug away. "See ya around, Girlie!"

Gail stepped out of the diner, wrapping her coat tighter around her. A cold front from the night before had given the air an icy chill, causing Gail to have to get out her turtlenecks, scarves, and boots earlier than she was used to. But it was autumn, and she probably should have been expecting this.

Gail slid into her car, sighing slightly as she relaxed for a moment in the dark interior. Despite the fact that it was cold, the area was still rather comforting. Gail tuned on the engine, holding off on the heat seeing as the car had not yet warmed up and the hot air she intended to blast at herself would only come out as cold.

Slowly, Gail drove herself along the crowded streets of San Francisco. She really didn't mind the wait though: it gave her more time to stare at the phone next to her, hoping desperately to get a phone call from the CEO. It wasn't necessarily that she was nervous about him having left: Vellie's idea was almost out of the question. But Gail was still rather worried. Did it have something to do with yesterday? Had something happened to the cut, or was he too embarrassed to show his face after that episode? Gail shook away the latter: Seto didn't seem to be embarrassed by anything.

Gail pulled into the parking lot and parked in her specific parking spot. Only she and the other top DMM specialist had specific parking places, but Gail didn't mind in the slightest. In fact, she was happy enough to have a spot close to the doors of the building: it made walking through the chill quicker, even though the chill never did anything greater than just be chilly. In all the years Gail had lived in 'Frisco, she had never once seen snow: white Christmas' were not exactly common on the coast of California.

Gail gave a sigh of content as she walked into the main lobby area of DMM. People rushed from one hallway to the next, shouting out names and ideas. The elevators dinged as they rushed up and down to accommodate people's wishes. Some people wore suits, others, normally the freelance writers who popped in and out of DMM and scoured the city for good stories and picture-worth events, were much more casual. Gail felt perfectly at home in her long sleeved purple turtleneck, brown scarf, jeans, leather boots, and tan trench coat.

"Good morning, Gail!" the lady at the front desk of the lobby called out, waving a perfectly manicured hand. "Long time no see!"

"Morning, Rachael!" Gail shouted back to her over the sounds of bustling news.

"Hello, Gail!"

"Good to see you, Hanson."

"Welcome back, Sweetheart!"

Gail smiled and waved to her addressers, almost laughing inwardly. _Geez, you're gone for a few days and everyone thinks you've risen from the dead! Pretty soon I'll be on the headlines!_

Gail slid into an already crowded elevator, pressing the button that was surprisingly already pushed in: number twelve. Then, she waited. She could of course have just pushed in the 'close door' button and pushed her button again, causing the elevator to go straight to her floor, but she decided against that, telling herself that it would probably be rude. If it had been just her and Rob, then he probably wouldn't have minded, but quite a few of these people were writers that Gail hadn't become acquainted with yet, and rude wasn't exactly what Gail wanted them to remember her by.

After around ten minutes, the elevator finally stopped, the light above Gail's head flashing bright orange as it signaled the twelfth floor. By this time, Gail was all alone in the elevator: most people's offices were on lower floors, the editors and designers having the nicest of the offices on the floors just below Gail's floor, as it was usually the quietest area of the building.

Gail walked out of the elevator and watched it close behind her. Then she slowly began to walk along the hallway. It seemed so odd to be taking the hallway at such a slow pace: usually Gail was bouncing and itching to get to her office, but now it seemed she had no reason to hurry. In the past three days, Gail had seen a change in herself. She wasn't nearly so reckless or so bouncy. She had calmed herself down. And so far it seemed that everything was fine.

Gail stepped in front of her and opened it. Without a glance, she walked into the room. Immediately, Gail knew something was wrong: the smell of the room was different, as though it had been sprayed down with a powerful form of Febreeze. She glanced around. And some of her potted plants were missing. She raised an eyebrow. Why would someone wasn't to mess with the interior decoration of her office?

Gail slowly set her bag on one of the couches, looking suspiciously around her. She stepped up to the riser with her desk, gazing at the smooth wood. Even her calendar had been replaced with a new one, her messy handwriting no longer covering the paper. Next to the large calendar sat a golden plaque. Gail picked it up, glancing at the name on the front. It was hers, engraved neatly on the plastic. She frowned. This was supposed to be on the front of her door…

Gail leaped over to her door, opening it. She never looked at her door on entrance anymore, seeing as she knew this was her room. But now, she wasn't so sure. She opened the door with a wide radius and glanced at the name plate slid into the holder that was screwed in on the door's front.

_**Carla M. Medici**_

Gail pinched her lips and with a swipe, grabbed the name plate from the door, replacing it with her own. Gail slammed the door shut behind her and stalked over to her desk, grabbing the calendar off the desk. With her free hand she pressed the button labeled "Miranda" on her phone, holding the button as a speaker. "Hey Miranda, you there?"

The voice on the other end was most definitely not Miranda's: it was deep and rich with a smooth feminine flow to it, as though DMM had suddenly hired a royal wannabe as a personal assistant. "_I'm sorry, this is Regina, Ms. Medici. Your editorial manager._"

Gail snarled. "I am most definitely not 'Ms. Medici', _Regina_. Now if you do not get a Miranda Keller on the phone right now, I will see to it personally that you are fired! Understood?"

The voice did not reply. Gail sure as heck hoped that mean that she was finding Miranda. Gail wasn't sure if she had been too harsh on the girl, but she wasn't in the mood for any complications. So far, her day hadn't been the best. Seto not showing up, her office having been taking over by someone else…Gail just wasn't feeling the love.

"_Gail? Is that you?_"

Gail couldn't remember if she had ever been so happy to hear her assistant's voice. She slammed down on the receiver button. "Miranda! Yeah, it's me. What's going on here? Who is this Medici woman that took over my office?"

"_She's the girl who's supposed to replace you. We all thought you had just left. No one knew where you had gone._"

Gail blinked in confusion. "What about the letter I wrote to the boss? I told him I'd be out working on the big project all week. Didn't any of you see that?"

"_I don't remember any letter, Gail. Are you sure you did that?_"

Gail slammed her palm into her forehead. Her day was just getting worse and worse. "Okay, I'll go up and talk to the boss later. Meanwhile, can you bring me up my calendar? This one reeks of something that even the designers wouldn't be caught dead wearing."

"_Right away! Oh, would you also like the key to your filing cabinets? I've been keeping all your keys. Ms. Medici wanted them, but I hid them for when you come back. I think she's trying to find a copy right now. She really wants those files._"

"Stupid idea stealers," Gail mumbled. Even if her work was all in her personal shorthand, Gail still didn't appreciate the fact that someone was at least trying to look at her work. "That would be fine, Miranda. Oh, and if you can find the potted plants that have been taken from the room, have someone bring them up. My office looks bare without them."

"_Coming right up!_" And with that, she hung up.

Gail sighed and turned off her own side of the phone. She sat down and leaned back in her chair, swiveling around a few times and gazing out to the streets. Cars were stuck in traffic, but when was that new? People bustled around, all seeming to have a place to get to, chatting wildly on phone and Bluetooths. The world seemed so connected. Who _knew_ who those people were talking to? For all Gail knew, one of them could be speaking to a person in Russia or somewhere else equally far away.

"Excuse me…who are you?"

Gail whirled around in her chair, facing the doorway. A tall woman stood there, green eyes shining. Extremely slender and thin, she looked almost more imposing. She wore green shirt and jeans, the colors clashing actually quite nicely against her long curled red hair. Her face was thin and long, the rest of her body form following in suit. Her green eyes looked almost nervous as they looked around the room. She had to be in about her mid twenties, maybe even thirty.

Gail blinked. "I should be asking you the same question, _ma'am_."

The woman stepped forwards, holding out her hand to shake. "Carla Medici, ace reporter."

Gail blinked slowly and stood, walking over. She took the woman's hand in hers. "A pleasure, I'm sure. My name is Gail Hanson, Top reporter…the one whose name is on the door." She pursed her lips sourly.

Carla dropped Gail's hand, her eyes suddenly worried. "Oh…you're Gail? I thought you'd be older."

"Most people do. What's that in your other hand?"

Carla's tanned and freckled cheeks flared slightly. "That is none of your concern, _Ms._ Hanson."

Gail glared. "As long as you are in my office, Ms. Medici, you are in my domain which means you abide by my rules. Now if you will show me what it is you have there…" She motioned to the closed fist.

Carla's lips grew thin and tight, but she obediently held out her hand and opened her fist. Gail took one look at the glittering silver key and plucked it out of the girl's hand. "Hmmm…funny, this looks just like my key. Must have been my mistake. Thank you for bringing it back to me."

Carla's lips grew even tighter, but she did not say anything.

"Gail!" Miranda rushed into the room, holding a set of keys in one hand and a large calendar in the other. "I found your—." She cut off looking warily at Carla who glared back at her with flashing green eyes.

Gail smiled at her assistant. "Miranda, thank you so much!" She took the keys from the short woman and pocketed them with her other key, taking the calendar as well. She handed back the other long board to the woman next to her. "Here, you might want this back. And if I ever find your things in my office again, I'll know where to look for you. And I'll be sure to lock my office from now on. I'm the only one besides the boss with a set of keys to this room. If I find it opened or one thing changed in here, I'll know who did it. Now get out."

Carla gave one last glare to Gail before turning around and stalking from the room. Suddenly Gail called back. "Carla!"

The red-haired woman stopped, turning back in surprise.

Gail stepped over, slapping the plastic golden plaque in the woman's hands. "Put this in your own office." And with that, she closed _her_ door to _her_ room and sat down in _her _couch, contemplating her next move.

* * *

Gail wasn't one for patience, not today. She bounced around outside the large doorway, her feet skittish. She wasn't nervous, actually far from it. Her boss couldn't do much to her now. Of course he could fire her earlier than he had originally said, but Gail highly doubted that. Her perception of the boss right now was quite like hers of Seto: they could do their worst and it wouldn't be any different than her current situation.

"Come in."

Gail opened the door with a wide radius and stalked into the room .The boss' office was even bigger than hers, but windows only lined one wall. Still, they let in a lot of sunlight. His desk was directly in front of the windows, his form only a silhouette against the bright light. He might have seemed intimidating to some people, but at the moment, Gail really didn't care.

She stepped up to the desk, glaring hard. Her boss looked up from some paperwork, genuine shock crossing his face. "Hanson! You're back!"

"Yes," Gail spat, "I'm back and I want a reason for why some red-haired princess decided to set up stock in my office!"

The man straightened his papers almost nervously. "Hanson, try to understand me. We all thought you had left DMM. You never told us you'd be out for so long. And we tried to contact you, but none of us could, not even Ms. Keller!"

"I've been working on that big project!" Gail nearly shouted, not really listening to her boss, "And I left you a letter explaining that! Did you get it? I left it on your desk."

Confusion flashed against the man's wide face. "I found no letter," he said slowly.

He wasn't lying; Gail could tell. The one fault in her boss' business skills was his lack of a poker face: his eyes grew narrower when he lied, and he usually started breathing harder. Right now he was perfectly calm, even if he was a little confused. Gail slammed her fist down on the editor's desk, biting a curse word from her tongue. "Then who the heck messed with it?! I wrote a perfectly good letter! I've been out all week working on that project you wanted, and I've been spending all my time on that. And," she cut off the man before he began, "before you ask, it's going well. Why didn't you call me?"

He blinked. "Your phone number wasn't working."

Gail narrowed her eyes. "Why is that? I didn't change my number."

Her boss blinked widely again. "Well that's good to hear. At least you've been working."

"I have been, but if I don't get my office back for good, I'm never going to get it done!"

Her boss tapped his fingers nervously. "Hanson…by the end of this week—."

"I know," Gail interrupted, "If I don't get the story done, I'll lose my job and therefore my office. But until that time comes, I'm still in charge of my office. And if you would be ever so kind, I would prefer if you keep that Carla freak out of my office until the deadline hits. Oh, and if you could get her annoying little assistant off the other end of my phone line and put Miranda back, I would be much obliged. Do I have permission to go now? I have an article to write."

Her boss laughed slightly. "You always were one to cut to the chase, Hanson. I'll keep Medici away from your room, but only if you work on your story. Speaking of which, why aren't you with your client today?"

Gail's confidence and anger suddenly dipped slightly into unease. "He didn't show up today like we planned." She bit her lower lip slowly.

Her boss raised an eyebrow. "You haven't seen him? And you expect to get this job?"

"I already have the job," Gail protested, "but Seto Kaiba is a busy man. I wouldn't be surprised if his phone just died…and his computer…" But as she said it, she realized just how ridiculous she sounded.

Her boss apparently felt the same way, at least judging by his unimpressed expression. "And he hasn't gotten hold of you? You must be doing something wrong."

Gail held back a snarl. "I happen to be doing perfectly well, Boss. I'm serious, he's just really busy. Not every multi-billionaire has extra time on their hands to work with reporters."

Her boss's jaw clenched and Gail suddenly worried that she had gone too far. As she had told Seto when he had helped her out from the rain, she had a nasty temper that usually ran away with her. And being with Seto hadn't helped her temperament.

But her boss merely rubbed his temples, lowering his head. "You have five days left. You had better impress me, Hanson."

Gail breathed out deeply, her annoyance fading. She knew her boss was just trying to help her out. But Gail was just ticked, and not at her boss. She closed her eyes and nodded, walking out of the room. As she closed the door behind her, she pulled her phone from her pocket. She checked through her texts and messages, but found nothing new. She gave an aggravated sigh. _What is your problem, Seto? Where the heck are you?_

**I really enjoy Seto and Gail as characters. Having them interact is so interesting. I love trying to bring out Seto's good side (which is pretty deep under all those clothes) and have Gail try to do the same. We're pretty much in the same boat, she and I, both trying to pry things out of our dear CEO. **

**Anyhow, I'll try to update soon, but I have a huge audition for an opera competition coming up and I'm training my voice pretty hard, as well as working out quite a bit. So I'll do what I can. But don't hesitate to PM me if you need clarification on anything. Catch you around!**

**Oh, by the way, let me know if you want me to post a Fullmetal Alchemist/ Harry Potter crossover (my odd sister again...). I'll try to make it as non-cliche as possible, as I know many crossovers can become. Also, I'm starting work brainstorming my Grounded sequel. I've got a few ideas, but I want to know how many people want to see another KI work.**

**Pixie**


	9. Twenty-four Hour Nap

**Heh, I actually almost posted the next chapter before this one...whoops! The note that was prepared for this chapter is on the next one, so read and then check that one out!**

Seto sighed in contentment. He was so comfortable, it was almost crazy. He hadn't felt in such a state of ease in so long, he had almost forgotten the feeling altogether. It was as though the stress were ebbing from his body, a whole month's or more worth of it. He curled himself deeper into the cushioned bed, the sheets and comforters wrapping around him like a cocoon. His head snuggled deeper into his pillow. He had to admit, the beds in this hotel were very comfortable.

Slowly, Seto's brain began to turn back on. He moaned slightly, pulling one of his arms from the twisted covers and rubbing his eyes. He gave a deep sigh. He didn't want to move. He knew his body was just becoming lazy from the sleep. He felt as though he had slept for years.

Seto slowly began to untangle himself from the tight sheets. He groaned as he pulled himself into a sitting position. His muscles felt like putty, and his eyes kept crossing, begging to be closed and his mind to be shut back down. He yawned widely, grabbing his phone blindly from the bedside table. He turned it on and winced at the light. The curtains covering the windows in he room were blackouts: they kept any light from entering the room. The light from Seto's iPhone was like a sun in space. Seto rubbed his eyes again until they were accustomed to the brightness. Slowly, the screen came into view.

10:47 p.m.

Seto sighed and blinked a few more times. He was obviously hallucinating. He had gone to bed at eleven o' clack sharp. He couldn't have gone back in time: that was just stupid. Unless…

Seto blinked his now wide away eyes. He hurriedly slid his thumb across his phone's touch screen, opening the calendar application. He watched as the screen flashed to white and the date flashed on the screen. His eyes widened even farther. It was the next day! Seto had slept for almost twenty-four hours straight! He had wasted a whole day!

Seto groaned and flopped back on the bed, head in his hands. This was what came of relaxing and sleeping: wasted work! Seto could have spent the entire day working and writing papers. And what had happened? His body had taken over and had shut itself off for more time than it should have. Seto had just wasted twenty-fourr hours of his life…sleeping.

Seto rolled off the bed and leapt to his feet, flipping on the lights. He blinked as his eyes dilated from the bright light. He growled to himself as he grabbed a set of clean clothes for after his shower. As he went through his suitcase, he held his phone in one hand and flipped through his updates. He snarled at the fifty-four new emails littering his inbox. He would have to go through all of them eventually. Then he went to his voice mail. He slid the phone against his ear, holding it up with his shoulder as he used both hands to rifle through his suitcase. He flipped through the messages, choosing the most recent of his twelve new voicemails.

_Hello, Seto?_

Seto stopped dead. Was that Gail's voice?

_This is Gail…This is my twelfth message, if you haven't already noticed. I just wanted to know if you're going to show up today…I know you're busy, seeing as you normally are. I'm just a little worried…you haven't picked up your phone or answered any of my emails or my texts. I'm just wondering if you could tell me where you are or if you're ever going to meet with me today. I'm still at the diner. Are you at the coffee shop? If so, please tell me. I'll try and text you or email you again to see if that's better. So…until tomorrow._

The woman's words came to an end and the smooth female voice of the operator came on instead, asking if Seto would like to save the voicemail or recall the person or do anything else on her long list of commands. Seto snarled and flipped to Gail's first message, putting the phone to his ear again.

_Good Morning, Seto. This is Gail, Gail Hanson. I'm just calling to remind you that we're supposed to be meeting today at the diner sometime before nine. If you were here and left already, I just wanted to tell you that I'm here now and waiting. If you could call me back, that would be great! Have a good day!_

Seto glanced at the phone, looking at the two times. Gail's first message had been sent over an hour before the last one…she had been waiting at the diner for him for over an hour! And he had never showed up. Seto face-palmed himself in exasperation. He had just created one of the largest failures of his life, one that might even cost him his advertisement. Knowing Gail, anything could happen. She would probably go ballistic at him for making her wait for so long and break off the deal. Seto couldn't let that happen, not now. He had spent way too much time for this to go wrong now.

Seto dropped his clothes on his bed and pulled up the message board on his phone. He typed rapidly on the tiny keyboard with his slender fingers. He rarely made mistakes, having become so used to typing on just about everything. He finished the text and turned his phone off, hurrying into the bathroom for a speedy shower before starting the day.

* * *

Gail tapped hurriedly on her computer, flipping through page after page of her notebook and copying down notes. She had pulled up more documents than usual and her start dock at the bottom of the screen was filling up. But slowly she was compiling them into two large documents: Article Notes and Interview Notes.

Both stories were still in their beginning stages, but Gail had them mostly planned out in her head. She had yet to write them down of course, so right now she was outlining.

She typed rapidly on her keyboard. Because of yesterday, she was farther behind than originally expected. She sipped her coffee, loosening her scarf from around her neck. So here she was in her office, the time at around early morning. She had been there since four o clock sharp, working non stop. She had only stopped once to grab herself a cup of tea.

Gail sighed and leaned back. So far what she had written was good, but sketchy. She had gained many parts of the puzzle that was the mind of Seto Kaiba, but was still missing some minor details. What was his life like now? Where did he live? Who were some of the main business partners he worked with? She already knew many of the companies KaibaCorp was connected to, but what else? There seemed to be something missing…was it about his personal life? How close was he to his younger brother? Because Seto was so rich and powerful, was Mokuba in any immediate danger? How did Seto manage to spend enough time with Mokuba if Seto was always working, as he usually claimed? These questions and more whirled in Gail's mind. But what was she supposed to do, call Seto again? She shook her head. It wasn't worth it. Why would Seto answer her now after not answering her before?

Gail swiveled around in her chair, gazing down at the bright city. Despite the warm sun, the air was still chilly, so Gail had worn her tan trench coat and boots earlier, but had stripped the coat off when she had entered her office, the heating system in her room being absolutely superb. She fingered the end of her purple scarf around her neck absentmindedly.

A loud knock at the door snapped Gail from her thoughts. She snarled at the sound of the door opening. "Miranda, I though I told you that I wanted to be left alone until at least ten. According to my watch, it's only eight-o-seven."

The voice that replied was most definitely not Miranda's, being much too deep and rich for the stout blonde woman. "Well by my watch, I'd say yours is two minutes slow."

Gail whirled around in shock, gripping the armrests on her chair tightly. He stood in the doorway, looking as annoyingly gorgeous as ever. His eyes flashed that color of blue unnamed to anyone but Gail and the person himself, his chocolate brown hair falling with a scruffy yet neat style that Gail found so nice. He was imposing, yet now did not look as though he were trying to be intimidating.

Gail blinked in surprise, standing up quickly. "Seto!" She shook her head slightly to clear it of its muggy thoughts. "I wasn't expecting you." She glanced at her phone on her desk, noticing the flashing light in the corner. Seto must have texted her. She had kept her phone on silent while she was writing. She must have totally missed it.

"But you were yesterday," he said slowly, his eyes flashing.

Gail shrugged. "Well…um, yeah. I mean, we planned for coffee again, but you didn't answer you phone…was it broken?"

Seto blinked his Kaiba-Blue eyes. "I'm here to offer you some form of an apology. I was unable to hear my phone at the time."

Gail raised an eyebrow. "All twenty-three times I called you?"

Seto winced ever so slightly, but it lasted for half a second or less. Gail almost smiled. Was he really all that nervous about talking to her? Gail had more or less already forgiven him for his mistake, but just seeing him squirm in discomfort was enough to amuse Gail thoroughly.

"I was…asleep at the time."

Gail raised her eyebrow again. "You sleep? Huh…for some reason I though you were a vampire, or at least partially nocturnal. With all the coffee you drink, it seems like you should have enough energy for the next few millennia!"

Seto's eyes grew darker. "If you would—."

"Seto," Gail cut him off. Was it dangerous to cut Seto off in the middle of a sentence? Sure, on a normal day. But at the moment, Seto didn't seem at the top of his game. So therefore Gail had an advantage. "You know, a simple 'I'm sorry' would suffice."

Seto gave her a look, as though contemplating her words. He opened his mouth slightly, then closed it. Finally, through what seemed gritted teeth, he said, "I'm…sorry."

Gail dipped her head, trying not to laugh. She never though she'd ever hear Seto Kaiba use those words. It was hilarious! "And though you did not ask for forgiveness, I forgive you anyways." She smirked at Seto's look of amazement. Had he never been forgiven before? Maybe he had never felt the need to say he was sorry. _How does he ever learn from his mistakes then?_ Gail wondered. Many of the mistakes she had made were ones that she had to ask forgiveness for.

"Now," Gail finally said, walking over to one of the walls of her office. She had set up a table there with fresh coffee every morning that she was at DMM. It was for her clients. So she hurriedly poured a cup of the brown liquid into a cup, leaving out the cream and sugar as she remembered Seto was not fond of anything but black coffee and espressos. She whirled around and handed the cup to Seto, her boot steps almost silent against the carpeted floor. "How long were you out that you missed all my calls?"

"Almost twenty-four hours," he answered quietly as the two sat down on the couch.

Gail whistled, impressed. "That long? Dang, you must have just crashed! What did you do to tire out your body so much?"

"I stayed awake for seven days."

"Straight?" Gail asked in shock. When Seto nodded, Gail's eyes widened. "But that's…like…" she hurriedly did the math in her mind, "one hundred and sixty-eight hours! What the heck was so important that you felt you needed to stay up so late?!"

"Work," Seto said simply, taking a long drink of coffee.

Gail leaned back in shock. One hundred and sixty-eight hours? Who was idiotic enough to stay awake that long, other than Seto of course. Gail had stayed awake for forty-nine hours at one point, but even that small amount of time was enough to convince her never to try it again. The thought of being awake for a week straight…it was enough to make Gail drowsy just thinking about it.

So instead, she shrugged. "It's your funeral. But if you can stay awake that long, why didn't you go longer? Were you too tired?"

Seto shook his head, looking down into his coffee. "I probably would have been awake for a longer amount of time, but Mokuba convinced me to take some time off. And look where that got me." He snarled slightly.

Gail smirked. "Yeah, it got me a much more tolerant and a little friendlier client. You should sleep more often. By the way, is your back better?"

Seto gave her a glare. "Fine, thank you," he answered tersely, "Are we going to sit here all day and talk about my sleeping patterns or actually work?"

Gail raised an eyebrow. "Personally, the first would be more fun to talk about, but I might be able to write more notes if we do the latter. What do you think?"

Seto's cold stare was enough. Gail rose to her feet, hands up in defense. "Hey, I'm just trying to lighten the mood a bit! Give it a rest, Kaiba-boy."

"Don't call me that," Seto snapped through gritted teeth.

Gail rolled her eyes. "You're no fun, but when is that new? Alright, you win, let's get back to work."

* * *

Seto held himself from leaning against the edge of the elevator. So instead he crossed his arms and stood rigid and still. Well, almost still: his foot tapped impatiently against the carpeted floor.

Gail stood next to him, her green eyes sharp and beautiful. Seto looked at her for a while, his blue eyes inspecting her: he had a habit of observing things into the greatest detail. Gail wore a green t-shirt and jeans, with a pair of brown leather boots on her feet and a purple woolen scarf hanging loosely around her neck. As always, her hair was pulled back in a tight, high ponytail, her hair cascading down behind her with wavy swirls. In the fluorescent lighting, the multiple shades of her hair were even more prominent. She stood by the button panel of the elevator, holding down the level button with the star on it and the close doors button.

Seto raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

Gail turned to him and smiled. "It's a little trick I learned. If you hold down both these buttons, the door will automatically open at your floor first, no matter how many people are pressing buttons on their end. It's helpful if you need to get a story in to the editors really fast. Right now, I just don't want you to have to deal with anyone who might want to come into the elevator, seeing as you're king of "anti-people"."

Seto blinked and resumed his earlier position of what looked like doing nothing. But underneath his calm demeanor, his mind was racing. He had so much work to do. Documents were filling his laptop with information that he needed to check through. He also needed to finish writing grants and start running background checks on the members of the company that was planning on coming under KaibaCorp's range of producers. Then there was going through his databases and checking if Mokuba was doing his homework correctly, and of course checking that his brother was doing alright as is. Other than that, he had to go back through his statistics, check his email to see if production for the new computer parts his company had just developed was keeping up, and check how stocks were faring, as well as the preorders for Duel Disks and new computers were falling in for the holidays as well as the preorders for the tickets to the opening of KaibaLand. All in all, the start of another set of all nighters was on the rise.

Seto held back a sigh. Sometimes, Seto wished that he could just sleep in every morning, actually turn off his alarm when it went off at 4:00 a.m. when he actually went to bed on time. He wished more than anything that he could take a long day off and spend it out in the parks with Mokuba, that he could take the time and help his brother, learn to understand him better than he already did. Was Mokuba alright during the day? Was Mokuba being bullied at all? How much was Mokuba eating? How was Mokuba mentally? Did Mokuba feel comfortable at school? What was there that distracted Mokuba at all during the day and what could Seto do to eliminate it? How did Mokuba feel around girls? What was Mokuba doing after school? Were his friends nice? These were only a few of the questions that floated around in Seto's mind. After a while, it stopped becoming about Seto and started changing to Mokuba. The reason Seto had beat Gozuboro, the reason he took over KaibaCorp, and the reason that Seto stayed up all night, believe it or not, was for his little brother.

"Hey," Gail's voice broke through his thoughts as she turned back and looked at him with those piercing green eyes, "you alright in there?"

Seto blinked coldly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Gail shrugged. "Well, your eyes started to get all glassy and fogged over, and your shoulders dropped slightly, as well your jaw loosening ever so slightly. What are you thinking about?"

Seto turned away. "Nothing important or of any of your business."

Gail shrugged. "To tell you the truth, I already know quite a bit about you anyways so you might as well spill it. Your whole life has become my business."

Seto clenched his jaw. "I don't have to tell you anything."

Gail shrugged again. "Fine. I'll get it out of you at some point." She turned back. "By the way, totally random question here, but how many languages do you know?"

Seto raised an eyebrow.

Gail smirked. "Well, when I was getting that splinter out of your back, you said some things under your breath in other languages, ones that were not Japanese or English as far as I can tell. So how many are you fluent in?"

Seto had to think for a split second about that one. "Seven."

Gail blinked in surprise. "_Seven?!_ That is so cool! What are they?"

"Japanese, English, French, Spanish, German, Arabic, and Mandarin Chinese. I'm currently learning Italian, Russian, and Greek. I also know some Swedish and Polish. I'm planning on moving onto Gaelic and Romanian when I have the time."

"And you're fluent in all of them?" Gail gaped, "Dang! I couldn't even get through Spanish 1! But you inspired me to start learning Japanese. But if I ever come to Japan, please talk to me in English."

Seto snorted, his lips twitching. "Sure."

"Hold on," Gail said, whipping a notebook from her back pocket, "I have to write this down." She hurriedly scribbled down the languages and slid the notebook in her pocket just in time before the elevator door dinged open.

"Oh, I was just about to come see you, Gail."

Gail's face twitched slightly at the young woman who stepped through the doors immediately after they opened. Seto turned his head ever so slightly, watching Gail's reaction. Her body language mimicked disgust. She tugged at the end of her scarf absentmindedly, "It's a good thing you caught me before I left then, Carla." Her words dripped with poisonous sarcasm.

The woman tossed back cascades of curly red hair. Her green eyes looked to be a shade lighter than Gail's, more of a jade color than Gail's emerald. She was tall, around Gail's height, and very slender with a large chest and round shoulders. She had a very hourglass formed waist, and her bright yellow shirt was tight around her, making her well-endowed chest appear larger and her waist thinner. He cast a quick glance back at Gail. Compared to the new 'Carla' girl, she was wider, but anyone would look wide next to the redhead. Seto's mind suddenly started comparing the two women's looks: were relatively well-endowed, but 'Carla' probably more so, or at least looked that way due to her waist. Nevertheless, Gail had a more natural feel around her, as though she were comfortable in her own skin, while the other woman was not.

"Yes, it is," Carla said with a smile that immediately made Seto angry, as it looked as though she were trying to give advice but not anything helpful. "I mean, we can't have you going out wearing that, now can we?"

"If I wanted an opinion on my clothes, I would have asked the designers, Carla," Gail spat, "I don't need advice from a second-rate reporter."

Carla's eyes narrowed. "Watch what you say, Gail, or I might just see if I can move back your due date."

"You do that," Gail said with sickly sweet pleasure, "and when you do, I'll have the boss make me a pizza in celebration of you getting out of my life!"

Seto nearly smirked. It was like watching a group of dogs fight: they circled around each other for a while, snarling and growling, before actually making a move. But while watching and commenting on such a battle, he felt rather like intervening. So he made his eyes hard once again and looked with bored-interest to Gail. "And…this is?"

Before Gail could answer, Carla whirled around, eyes sparkling with attention and her expression one of perfectly manufactured cheerfulness. "Carla Medici, soon to be Top Reporter of Duel Monsters Magazine." She held out a hand to shake.

Seto eyes the hand with an uninterested attitude. "I don't shake hands with plastic people."

The woman's smile faltered for a second. "Excuse me?"

Seto eyed her with cold nonchalance. "I don't think I've ever seen a girl look more like Barbie doll before."

Carla pulled at a strand of her long red hair. "Is that a compliment?"

Seto let his eyes fix to hers with a chilling stare. "Actually, I rather think that those…things…are some of the least dignified products in stores at the moment. I wouldn't touch them if I had a ten foot pole in my hand. Therefore, I would prefer if you keep your manicured nails as far away from me as space and time will allow."

The girl's eyes flashed angrily. "Is that a threat?"

Seto almost laughed. "So you're not as stupid as you look. Your image has a portrayal of stupidity. And I personally prefer to be around people who have at least a medium IQ level, which you unfortunately do not qualify underneath."

Carla's face pinched as though she had just smelled a rather unpleasant stench, making her look far less attractive than before. "Who are you that you can come in and insult an ace reporter? I'll tell my boss—."

"I could chew your boss up and spit him out, Ms. Medici," Seto said calmly, "Do you know who I am?"

Carla rolled her eyes. "Um, a total jerk if you ask me!"

Seto glared at her. "I could have you fired for your insolence, and if I feel provoked enough, I'll do just that." Carla's eyes widened as Seto continued, his voice lowering menacingly, "Now get out of my way before I get really angry and you lose more than your job."

Carla stepped away almost immediately, opening the doorway. Seto wasted no time: he stepped through the elevator door regally, ignoring the glances he attained in the process. If this were his company, his workers would have done nothing of the sort for fear of being fired. But Seto was in a good mood at the moment. There was no need to go around firing people, at least not right now.

Seto stepped out of the front doors of the large DMM skyscraper, Gail on his heels. She stepped out next to him, her breaths making small condensed clouds hang in the air. Her gaze was something between admiration and amazement. "I don't know if you should have done that…but that was pretty sweet." She laughed slightly, rubbing her hands up and down her arms in order to warm them in the chilly air.

Seto crossed his arms. "That brat deserved every word I said to her. And why shouldn't I have said that?"

Gail shrugged. "Most likely she'll complain to the boss and have me court marshaled, shot, and sent to the Russian Front."

Seto blinked. "What?"

Gail laughed. "Sorry! Vellie has the complete box set of _Hogan's Heroes_ and I watched a bunch of them last night. No wonder I'm tired this morning!" She rubbed a hand along her head and breathed out a long, hard breath. A smile played on her lips.

Seto gave her a long glance.

Gail sighed. "_Hogan's Heroes_? Really? It's an old TV show about World War II prison camps…you've never seen it?" Her face was incredulous.

Seto blinked. "Should I have?"

Gail sighed loudly. "Sorry, I forgot: you had no childhood. Okay, well after all this is over, you're coming over to my apartment and we're watching season three of that show, alright?" She didn't even wait for an answer before she suddenly rushed at him and grabbed him in a tight hug. Seto stood stock still, staring down at Gail in utter surprise. He felt a rush of color flood his cheeks. _No one_ hugged him, except for Mokuba, of course. Thankfully, Gail stepped back before Seto could try to pry himself away from her. Gail looked slightly sheepish as she pulled a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She blinked at him with her shining emerald eyes before bowing slightly.

"Thank you very much for your time," she said quietly before jumping back through the doors of the DMM building. She paused before entering. "Hey, I've got a great place for us to meet tonight! I'll email you the details." And with that, she was gone.

Seto nearly sighed before putting his hands in his pockets and walking down the streets. Females were probably more confusing and annoying than any other species of animal known to man…combined!

**I actually researched how long you can stay awake with no sleep, and seven days isn't even the longest! I can't even stay awake all night, much less all week. (*sighs*) Seto amazes me more and more as I go on. I'm so happy he actually slept! It still shocks me that he did that...but his body was not happy. Sleeping for over 24 hours? I haven't done that before either, and I've heard it's no fun!**

**Anyhow, I hope you enjoy what you read. Leave me a review and let me know. Have a great day!**

**~Pixie**


	10. Moon on San Francisco

**Okay, first of all I'd like to say how sorry I am that this took so long to update. I'm not sure what's up with my Beta right now, but I can't get a hold of him at all. I was hoping he'd look this over, but something must have come up, so I'm very sorry. That also means that this chapter might have a few spelling or grammar mistakes, so try not to beat me up too hard on that! **

**Also, if you want to see any of my more recent work, there's a link on my profile for my story "The Silver City". If you're an Exo-Force fan and want to read any of that, check out the link. You won't be disappointed!**

* * *

If moonlight were sunlight, Seto wasn't sure how warm he'd be. The fresh, chilly air of twilight whirled around him. It was a nice change compared to his stifling hotel room. He wrapped his scarf lighter around his neck. Autumn had settled in and would soon be over, falling to the chilly rains of San Francisco winter.

Seto sipped his coffee, looking out. He sat on a small bench on a hill, a quiet park behind him, and facing towards one of San Francisco's greatest achievements. The Golden Gate Bridge shone with bright lights. The cityscape behind it was even brighter, the light making the stars above only barely visible. Seto was vaguely reminded of Tokyo. Domino City's lighting could not come close to this, though the KaibaCorp Tower was a substantial part of that light. No, Tokyo was all about development, bright lights, and flashiness. San Francisco was coming close. Seto had visited a lot of other cities before, but he liked San Francisco so far. It was also high in duelist population. He had passed by many dueling children, teenagers, and adults since he had been here.

"It's pretty, isn't it?"

Seto turned his head. Gail walked up behind him, two take-out cups of steaming liquid in her hands, which were covered by tan gloves. From what Seto could see in the darkness of late evening, not yet night, she was wearing a pair of jeans, her trench coat and a grey scarf along with her boots. Her eyes sparkled at him. "Well, it looks like you're already covered on coffee."

"I can always use more coffee," Seto grunted, taking the cup she held out to him. Gail slid next to him on the bench, turning to look out into brightness of the city.

"So why did you want to meet here?" Seto asked, swallowing a mouthful of his half-drunk coffee. He set the other next to him, ready as soon as he finished the first.

"Other than it being a great view?" she asked with a smile, "Well, it's night, so not many people are out. And that means no fangirls." Her eyes glittered playfully as she sipped her own drink. In the fresh air, Seto's sense of smell was much sharper, and he could distinctly pick up the scent of Earl Grey tea. He remembered now that Gail did not drink coffee.

Gail took a deep breath of the chilly air. "It's such a nice night. I'm surprised at how clear it is tonight. I expected rain, though the cloudiest and foggiest times of the year are in the summer. Weird, right?"

Seto shrugged. "I had Mokuba do a double check and use our own scanners. It shouldn't rain for another two days. Then we'll actually have a probable chance."

Gail turned to him. "How close are you to your brother?"

"He's the only person in the world that I know personally," Seto surprised himself by answering so quickly.

Gail blinked. "I guess with no parents, you've had to take care of each other, huh?"

Seto nodded, gazing back out into the cityscape. The multicolored lights were like stars in and of themselves. The lower ones sparkled and twinkled as cars passed by. Seto felt oddly relaxed. For once, his mind wasn't weighed down with the thoughts of work. Maybe it was just the fresh air addling his brain, but everything around him seemed sharper and more into focus. Despite the dark, Seto could pick out every chunk of differently shaded blonde in Gail's hair.

Gail must have noticed Seto looking at her because she turned to gaze at him. Her eyes widened in shock. "Oh my gosh! You're smiling!"

Seto blinked in surprise, realizing that he really _was_ smiling. Seto rarely smiled, at least in a genuine way. But now, he actually was. Now he _knew_ the air was messing with him.

Gail laughed lightly, grinning as though she had just been presented with a large ice cream cone. How did smiles come so easily to other people? Was it really that easy to be happy? Seto found it so hard to be cheerful…ever. Mokuba was probably one of the only people to be graced with a smile on a partially regular basis. So Seto found it rather odd that he was smiling at all. He growled slightly, wiping the smile from his face.

"Don't stop!" Gail said hurriedly, "You have a nice face when you smile. Keep on smiling!"

"No," Seto said, forcing his lips to remain down turned.

"Come on!" Gail laughed. "Just one!"

"No!"

Gail put a hand to his face, trying to force his mouth up but only managing to make his cheeks look wider. "One smile!" she giggled.

"Stop it!" Seto said, trying no to laugh as he slapped Gail's hand away. Gail laughed loudly, reaching for his face again. Seto continued to smack it away. It became a small war, slapping one another faster and faster.

Seto couldn't hold it back. He burst into laughter, his loud voice mixing with Gail's. Gail's mouth opened in a gape as her laughter died slightly. "You're laughing! You actually laughed!"

"No I didn't," Seto said sternly, cutting off his expressed amusement as quickly as it had come.

But Gail wasn't to be deterred. She drew closer to him, so close that he could distinguish the rosemary and mint smell that wrapped around her. It must have been her shampoo. Seto couldn't think of any other way she would smell like that unless she had just run through an herb garden. Seto drew back slightly. "Oh yes you did, I heard you, you little liar!"

"Who are you calling a liar?"

Gail drew her knees onto the bench, placing her elbows on them and her chin in her hands. "Umm…you? You have a gorgeous laugh, by the way!"

Seto held back a flush. His laugh was…what? His laughs were even rarer than his smiles. He could count the number of times he had laughed on one hand. He gave her a glare. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Gail rolled her eyes. "Sure," she said smugly, drawing out the 'ur' sound so it sounded even more superior. "Have you ever listened to yourself laugh before or looked into the mirror when you smiled? Because you look amazing when you're happy." Seto wasn't sure how Gail could say these things without looking absolutely embarrassed in the process, but her eyes shone with sincerity.

Seto rolled his eyes and scowled. "You have no idea what you're saying."

"Oh for crying out loud!" Gail huffed, "Do you ever take the compliments that are given to you?"

Seto shot her a glare.

Gail sighed. "I'm sorry, that wasn't very nice. I'm getting argumentative again, aren't I?" She sighed and leaned back in her chair, taking another sip of her tea.

Seto finished off his first coffee and picked up the second one next to him, drinking the still hot liquid. He held back a sigh. "If you weren't such a good writer," Seto said gruffly, "I would most likely have gone to someone who has a bit more respect."

Gail glanced at him. "And if you weren't helping me out so much, I probably wouldn't hesitate to blade you."

Seto raised an eyebrow.

Gail suddenly flicked her arm again. The blades flipped upwards, clicking into place at a ninety degree angle with the flat area of the armband. Gail waved her arm around slightly. "I use these babies to protect myself. I don't think I've ever actually hurt someone with them though, but from my testing, they can make sliced as thin as paper-cuts." She flicked then back down, sliding them into their places in the vambrace where they clicked closed. Gail rolled her sleeve back down. She exchanged a glance with Seto. "Hey, I know we have our differences and that we always seem to get under each other's skin, but thanks for meeting me here."

Seto shrugged, sipping his coffee. "Sure, whatever."

* * *

"I'm surprised you speak so highly of her."

Seto rolled his eyes. "I only said she was 'all right', Mokuba. I never said anything else. What makes those words so great?"

"You never say that," Mokuba said matter-of-factly, "to you, everyone can be described as some swear word in another language. I think what you said to your last secretary could be translated as "pig-dog" in German."

Seto snorted, grabbing his laptop. "Well, Gail is all right. She's not terrible and she's definitely not perfect."

"Well, that's better than her being a pig-dog."

"Hey, that secretary deserved every word I spoke to her, alright? She wasn't exactly the most respectful of people in the world."

"Neither are you," Mokuba pointed out.

"Touché," Seto grumbled, pulling up a few documents onto the thin screen of his laptop. "How has school been?"

He could almost imagine Mokuba shrugging. "Fine. We're supposed to be writing essays about certain words that she gave us. Mine's 'Space'. There's a minimum of two pages," Mokuba snorted from the other end. "I'm on page seven right now. I hope she doesn't mind all the extra work."

Seto smiled. "Good work. I expect it to be well written, understand?"

"I'm having your new secretary, Michiko, look it over. She got her degree in the Japanese language, so she can tell me if I spelled anything wrong or did some wrong markings or anything."

Seto nodded. When it came to wording, Michiko Iino was very good. Suddenly Seto wished that he could send his brother's essay to Gail to proof read, but then again, Gail was an English writer, not Japanese. "If I get home before you turn it in, I'll look it over as well."

"Thanks! So in mathematics, we're learning about how to measure things with their shadows in relation to other shadows."

_Trigonometry_, Seto thought. Mokuba was in almost all advanced classes and began taking Algebra when he was ten. Mokuba had a love of learning, which Seto found admirable. Seto himself had been forced into a higher education on the account that his stepfather had decided him a genius and a child prodigy. Everyone else had done the same. Seto had been brilliantly smart since he was very young. He was a good strategist and observed everything. He had immediately been placed in Calculus, Physics, and as many languages as he had been able to remember. He had gone through textbooks in a matter of weeks. His stepfather had taught him to dance and to play the violin and the piano. It was all part of his "classical" education. Seto was supposed to be rounded in all things academic and socially proper.

But Seto had had his rebellious streaks. He taught himself the game of chess, also teaching Mokuba. While this was another "socially proper" interest, his stepfather had not been happy when Seto had begun to beat him every time they played. Gozuboro Kaiba was supposed to be the reigning chess champion, but was beaten every game by a twelve year old. Seto had also taught himself guitar. At one point, Seto had found the strumming of strings and the making of music soothing, but he hadn't touched a guitar in years. But the final bit of his rebellion against his stepfather was in his favorite game: Duel Monsters. Seto vowed when he was very young that he would be the best player of Duel Monsters that ever walked the earth. What his stepfather had claimed was a pointless child's game was what had made KaibaCorp famous. Seto had started a cult of gamers, one that used this "child's game" for not only fun, but also as a battle tactic. It was used to settle disputes. There were even tournaments specifically for the game.

But while Seto had been pressed to be perfect, Mokuba had been mostly left alone by their stepfather, keeping him safe from Gozuboro's violence. Seto had been beaten and bruised when he did not doing his math correctly, being pushed to his very limits in all academia. Mokuba had been left to be as normal a child as their stepfather would allow. No one had seen the spark of greatness in Mokuba that they had seen in Seto. Therefore, Mokuba had been allowed to pick his own path. Still, despite him not being as rigorously trained as Seto, Mokuba was still a very smart individual. He was higher than all his classmates in everything academic. Mokuba was not very sporty, but his brilliance blew his teachers away. Seto could take very little credit for Mokuba. Mokuba loved to learn. He was technologically minded and brilliant in his own way.

Seto blinked. "You'll figure it out, I'm sure. It's quite simple when you get down to it. It's a lot of ratios and comparisons."

"Okay," Mokuba answered, "I'll work hard."

Seto smiled again. "Make me proud, little brother."

"I will! Well, I'll try. My P.E. teacher doesn't seem to like me very much. She says I'm not working very hard, but I think it's just because she likes the bigger kids more than me."

Seto nodded knowingly. He and his brother were very slender in build. Seto had muscle, but he definitely wasn't as broad shouldered as other people. It was the same way with Mokuba. His younger brother was in the first year of his junior high education, which was not exactly an easy year. Many of the boys in his class were larger than he was, more filled with muscle and power. It wasn't a surprise that Mokuba's gym teacher wasn't pleased with him: she probably had a set of big burly kids that she could fawn over instead. Mokuba could have been in a higher grade due to his brilliance, but Seto would never allow Mokuba into high school until he finished junior high. Seto himself was still in high school, though he missed classes most days due to business. The principal exempted him from most classes anyhow. Seto had only a few classes that it was mandatory for him to attend and even then he only had to go to them once a month or so.

"Well, she obviously doesn't know a good kid when she sees one," Seto said.

"You're right," Mokuba answered cheerfully. "So, are you still working?"

"Yeah," Seto said slowly, "now that I'm rested, I might as well spend tonight working."

Seto heard Mokuba sigh loudly on his brother's end. "I guess I won't be able to convince you otherwise, right?"

"Probably not."

"Well…enjoy, I guess."

Seto smirked. "I'll try. And don't worry too much: I'll take a nap later."

Seto could almost feel Mokuba's smile over the phone. "You had better!"

* * *

Gail sighed as she set her phone down. Carla's threat had come true: she now had two days left to write her article. She should have had three…but unfortunately, Carla was as good as her word. Gail laid her head down on her desk, feeling the sunlight that filtered through the windows warm her chilly cheeks. When she had snapped back at Carla's threat about causing her to lose a day of work, she hadn't actually though it would do anything.

_Ha ha, Gail. You really got yourself into a fix this time…_

Disappointment filled Gail's heart. She had only two days to write a large article and advertisement. _And an Interview_, Gail added to herself.

Seto was going to kill her, Gail knew it. Gail slammed a fist on her desk angrily. She knew Seto had said no interviews: he had specifically said that on day one. But with her deadline coming faster than she realized, she was sure now that an article wasn't going to be enough to impress her boss. She had decided earlier that she didn't have to do an interview and that she would get along fine with just an article. Carla's favoritism with the boss was changing her decision. If Gail wanted to keep her job, she would have to write that interview. Of course, it wouldn't be an interview _exactly_. It would be more of a question-and-answer session, pieced together from all of the questions she had ever asked Seto about his personal life and his company in general. It would be combined with the article to make one big story. Gail swallowed. If only that would be enough…

Gail took a deep breath, holding back tears. What really shook her up about the whole thing was that if she did this, Gail would be abusing all of Seto's trust that she had worked so long and hard to gain. This story would ruin the friendship that she had been so joyous to discover really existed. What Gail was doing could be considered as backstabbing and terrible. If Seto had it his way, Gail could be sued. She could lose more than her job: her very career was at stake.

Her stupid boss and his stupid business! Gail kicked herself away from her deck with a shriek and slammed into one of the braces between windows. She bit back a sob. How could she be doing this? Finally, after almost a week, Seto was beginning to trust her. She had noticed it in almost everything he did. His eyes had become warmer, his tone less terse, even his steps not nearly as rigid. Gail had changed him, and before she knew it, he was going to be right back where they started.

Gail leaned her head back, pounding it gently against the window, moonlight tumbling over her form and spreading across the ground. Gail really enjoyed Seto's company, she really did. He was young but intelligent. He had a way with words that made him sound like royalty almost. He was crisp and poised, like a prince. His eyes were piercing, making Gail believe she was being stared straight through, as though being inspected by a police scanner. And boy, was he handsome!

Gail sighed. How could her boss do this to her, make her choose between her career and a friendship? Ever since Gail's parents had died, Gail had put everything into her writing. Her job was the most important thing in the world to her. Maybe Seto could relate, as he managed to do the same thing. But without Gail's job, she would be nothing. She didn't have a college degree, had no experience outside of writing, and was living fairly well off of that. Of course, those things didn't mean that she wouldn't get a job. But didn't want a job: she wanted a career. She thought that with taking her job at DMM that she would be there for a while. She had been there for almost a year, counting her time as an assistant, and now she was being replaced. How could her boss be so…unfeeling? Gail had been doing satisfactory or above satisfactory writing since she had started as a journalist. No designer or editor had ever had any major problems with her work. Why now? What was it about this Carla girl that made her boss want to take her in? As far as Gail knew, when she herself had been hired, no one had been replaced by her. She had been taken in for her skills. Her boss had been impressed. Why wasn't he impressed now?

Gail moaned and slumped in her chair, rolling it slowly back to her desk. She slowly opened her laptop, waiting for the screen to load. She had been tempted to delete the notes for the interview she had never planned to fully write, but it was too late now. Gail was desperate. She had to write this.

Seto wasn't the jerk that everyone thought he was, Gail knew that now. Everything he did, he did for his younger brother. He was probably one of the most dedicated older brothers in the world. And KaibaLand…from the questions Gail had asked before, the Amusement Park had something extremely special built in: it wasn't just for dueling and all that. It had been originally designed to be free for orphaned and underprivileged children. Tickets to KaibaLand were averagely priced, but for children, ones who were going through exactly what Seto and younger brother had, were allowed to go in free! That fact had absolutely shocked Gail beyond belief. How could anyone say that Seto Kaiba was a jerk when he was doing this?

Gail felt a single tear streak down her face. She had to pick…job, or friend? The two words spun in her mind. Job…or friend?

Gail took a deep breath and pulled up the documents.

_Forgive me, Seto_.

**I actually feel really bad for Gail...choosing between your income and friendship isn't easy, and I was actually rather surprised at her. But life for her hasn't been easy, and this made her all the more real to me...actually, it rather shocked me, but that's besides the point! **

**I like Gail and Seto's interaction in the beginning of this! It was fun to write (though I literally spent weeks going to stores and smelling different shampoos to find Gail's right one and even now I'm sure it's what I'm looking for!). So anyhow, I hope you enjoyed! Please review and let me know how you like this story. It hasn't gotten nearly as much reception as my first one, and that's fine, I just want to know what people think of it.**

**~Pixie**


	11. Broken Word

**One more chapter to go after this! It's kind of sad that I wrote this is a month, but the editing too so long that it's been almost half a year since I first wrote it...and I still haven;t published it completely! (*winces*) Yikes, I'm really bad! I've been having some pretty bad luck with some Beta readers lately, so this got out way later than I originally planned.**

**Okay, so exams are over, but my mission trip starts June 2nd, so I won't be updating past then for at least seven weeks. But feel free to PM me at any time and I'll get back to you when I'm able to.**

* * *

Seto watched as Gail stifled a yawn, her eyes drooping. Seto raised an eyebrow as he sipped on his coffee. "Tired?"

Gail shook her head fiercely as though ridding it of a swarm of bees. "Yeah, I was up late writing. But I'll be fine." She could not hold back another huge yawn, "I don't know how you do it, Seto…stay awake all night for days on end? I can barely pull one all nighter without crashing."

"I've been pulling all nighters since I was fourteen," Seto said simply, "There isn't enough time in the day to finish all the work I need to get done."

Gail took another sip of her tea, perking up slightly. "I had the shop owner give me the most caffeinated tea he had…something called Irish Breakfast."

"You really should drink espresso," Seto commented, "It has more caffeine."

"Yeah, and it tastes like crap," Gail had enough energy to stick her tongue out and give a small smile. "I'd rather be tired than drinking something that not only tastes terrible but is also terrible for you."

"You sound more and more like my little brother every day," Seto smirked as he sipped his drink. Mokuba was always getting onto Seto about how bad coffee was for your body. Seto ignored all his brother's pleas. Coffee had practically become the main staple of his diet, and the coffee that the shop they had gone to almost every day, this day not exempted, was quite good. Maybe he would buy the shop…

Gail eyes dropped slightly, and she looked away from him, biting her lower lip. "Hmm…speaking of days…I wanted to let you know that the due date for this article has been moved up by a day, I have only two days left to write it. I just though you should know in case you wondered why the story is published a day early."

Seto stopped in mid-drink. "Why was it moved back?"

Gail shrugged solemnly. "Carla apparently complained to the boss. He's kind of partial to her, so he took her advice and set my deadline back. So I'll have to finish the article tomorrow." She heaved a long sigh, twirling her spoon in her mug of hot tea, the cream swirling inside catching onto the stainless steel silverware. She looked almost depressed, her eyes following her spoon as it whirled around. Seto wondered now if Gail wasn't really tired, but sad. He raised an eyebrow. He had seen Gail anywhere from happy to crabby, but sad was a new one. Was her setback on her article all that much to her? Seto knew that if he himself had had something like that happen to him, he would probably just be very angry, not necessarily sad.

"I have something that will cheer you up," Seto said, pulling a slip of paper from his pocket. He handed it to Gail, who looked up curiously and took the paper.

Gail's eyes widened dramatically. "But this—."

"It's your Royalty Check," Seto explained, "I decided to give it to you two days before the article was published. And because of the due date being moved back, today is the correct time."

Gail stared at the check. "But…but this is way more than we agreed on!" She held it back out to him, "I can't accept this," she said quietly, "I really don't deserve it."

"You've put up with me for almost a week," Seto answered gruffly, "Take it."

Gail shook her head fiercely. "I really can't take this money."

Seto blinked. "Take it, use it. At least get that messed up lock in your apartment fixed. Not only does it stick, but picking it is simple."

Gail flushed red, her eyes becoming watery. "Seto…I don't deserve to have this money, I really don't. If you knew…" she broke off looking confused and worried all at the same time. Her eyes wandered around the room, looking anywhere but Seto's direction.

Seto set down his mug, crossing his arms. "If I say you deserve the money, then you do. Now I order you to take it."

Gail, looking almost guilty, took the check and slid it into her bag. Seto couldn't figure it out: why was Gail so depressed? She was acting like she was going to a funeral. What had happened? Only last night, Seto had actually managed to enjoy a quiet night with the young woman out in the park looking out to the Golden Gate Bridge. What had changed since then? Was her backed up due date really affecting her all that much?

Seto stifled a sigh, taking another drink of his coffee.

"Would you like to go for a walk?"

Seto's own words surprised him. He blinked at himself in a slight shock. Since when did he care about people's feeling…or going for walks? What was wrong with him? If it was up to him, he would stay seated right there and whip out his laptop, ready to get back to work. So why did he care how Gail felt?

Gail's eyes finally met his, her lips twitching into a smile. "I'd like that."

Seto nodded, silently cursing himself in all the languages he knew.

The two finished their drinks and walked out of the coffee shop. Seto crossed his arms tightly around his body as a small gust of wind blasted into him. Gail next to him tightened her own coat and crossing her arms, her breaths making clouds in the air which were quickly blown past her. The air was dropping steadily. Autumn was indeed ending: Winter was on its way.

The two passed by shop after shop. Gail pointed out small trinkets and clothes that either amused or impressed her. She actually stopped at one point, showing him a necklace that she had been admiring earlier. After that came clothes and books.

"Can we go in there?" Gail asked, pointing at a bookshop. It was small, the outside wooden and rather quaint looking. A hanging sign above said, _Skipton's Antique Books_. Seto shrugged. Gail was already looking happier. Whatever it was that had been bothering her, she seemed to be letting it go.

"We might as well," Seto said gruffly as the two stepped into the shop, out of the wind. The bookshop was deeper than it looked from the outside and the walls were lined with books. Most looked very old and musty, some with pages sticking out and others with golden edging to the binding. The whole room smelled of parchment and English Breakfast Tea.

"Ah, Gail! How good to see you." A man from behind a large desk rose to his feet, his voice having a thick, British accent. He was an older looking gentleman, probably in his late forties with the look of a rather pristine man gone to seed, aging faster than other men his age. With a head full of fluffy, white hair and eyes the color of a sharp electric blue that stuck out of his face in an almost bulbous way, his face had a rather eerie expression. He was a rather homely looking man, and was quite short. If Seto wasn't so observant, he probably would have said that the man was half Seto's height.

"Good morning, Mr. Skipton," Gail said cheerfully, shaking his gnarly hands, another feature of his that Seto thought should have been on an older man than him, "How have you been?"

"I've been doing absolutely splendidly," he said happily, his wide eyes meeting Gail's with a sharp light. "How have you been, my dear?"

"I'm great, thank you for asking."

Mr. Skipton turned to Seto, motioning. "And you, young man? What's your name?"

"Seto Kaiba," Seto answered roughly.

"A friend of yours, Gail?"

Gail nodded. "Yes. Actually, he's a client of mine."

The man took Seto's hand and shook it gently. Seto could feel every knot and bone in the man's hands, the veins popping out from under the skin. The hand, to Seto, felt much older than it should have. This man seemed to have aged far past what he should have been. "A pleasure, Mr. Kaiba. My name is Albert Skipton."

Seto nodded. "The pleasure is all mine."

Gail glanced around. "The bookstore hasn't changed much, has it?"

"In four years, not much does around here," he answered simply, "In fact, the only think changing is that one of my sons is about to get married. Do you remember Trevor?"

"You spoke about him often," Gail answered, "but I've never actually met him. Give him my congratulations for me, though."

Mr. Skipton bowed his small head. "Thank you, and I will!"

"Do you mind if we just browse a bit?"

"Of course not."

"An old friend of yours?" Seto asked quietly as the two began pulling books off of shelves.

"My parents knew him," she answered just as quietly, opening an old book, the pages yellowed with age. She adjusted her glasses as a prissy librarian might. "His middle son is my age apparently, but most of his sons still live in England."

Seto nodded and continued flipping through pages of books. Some he slid back onto the shelves after a quick flip through for lack of interest. Others, he stood for a while flipped through, his quick eyes scanning each page.

Only one book actually made him sit down in one of the chairs so he could read it without his legs getting tired.

Seto glanced at the cover over and over again. It was a very simple cloth cover, colored black with golden trim. The name of the book was also in gold, gleaming on the front boldly: _The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides_.

Seto could barely put the book down. He had heard of the book often. It was written by one of the first true Greek historians after Herodotus. His history of the Peloponnesian War was amazing in the fact that he used no Greek mythology to explain it, unlike the playwrights and story writers of his time. He himself had been a soldier in the war, having experienced many of the things he had written down first hand. Seto had simply never had the time to actually sit down and read it.

Seto couldn't put the book down. He flipped an old piece of paper, his mind soaking in the words. It was as though he had placed modern day lawyers in the book when Corcyra and Corinth were both arguing over why Athens should choose their people for allies. He might as well have added in modern day politics as well. If Athens chose Corinth, they would be appealing to the arguments of justice and wisdom from the Corinthians. If they chose Corcyra, they would gain naval dominance, and would be accepting what almost seemed like a bribe. Seto hurriedly flipped to the next page, anxiously waiting for Athens' decision. It was like business: you had to make a choice for the good of your company. Seto raced through sentence after sentence, waiting…waiting…

"Hey, you ready to go?"

Seto snapped his eyes away from the book, glancing up to Gail who stood over him. Her eyes sparkled in the light, her hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly. Seto glanced back down at his book and he stood up hurriedly. "Of course," he grunted, moving to place the book back.

But Seto couldn't let the book go. He hadn't figured out which of the two groups Athens had chosen. He suddenly wanted to find out. He tucked the book in neck to him and walked over to the desk, setting down the book on the hard wooden surface. "I'd like to buy this please."

* * *

Gail sat down and wrote quickly. She sighed and slid her laptop to a close. The article was done…as was the interview. Gail felt her stomach growl in guilt. Whenever she felt guilty about something, Gail nearly became sick. Her stomach churned as though her organs were a butter churn and her fault the butter inside. It had been her downfall at mischief making when she was younger.

Gail sat in her bedroom at her desk. Her bedroom was small, the bed on the far wall beneath a long window and a small table next to it. Her closet was on the wall the door was. It popped out of the wall, so the indent between the door and the closed was filled with a desk. It was her nook, her writing area. On the wall to the right of her were the many bookcases, stuffed to the brim with books. Some were reference materials and other fiction and non-fiction for pleasure. And like her office, she had about three filing cabinets, full of documents and old newspaper clippings. A small lamp shone on her desk, lighting the dark room. Gail checked her watch. It was around eleven at night. And Gail had just finished with her stories. Tomorrow, she would turn them into her boss and redeem her job position and her boss's respect. Gail clutched her stomach as it responded with a snarl. And…she was going to probably lose her new friend. All she had left to do was print them out.

She gave a large sigh and stood up, walking around her room, hoping to calm her stomach down. Maybe she just needed something to eat. She shook her head. No…that probably wasn't going to help. Maybe it was the closed in area. She needed air.

Gail grabbed her laptop, shoving a coat over her thin shirt, slid on a pair of flip-flops, and walked out of her apartment. She walked down the hallway to the elevator, pushing the top button, labeled "roof" on it.

The young woman stepped out onto the top floor. It was the last level the elevator went to, though it didn't exactly hit the roof: it simply led to a set of stairs that led to the roof, which Gail had the key for. It was all some security thing.

The last level was a cold, drab area. Green paint was chipping off the handlebars for the unused steps. The air around smelled like rusty pipes and warm water. This was probably where many of the pipes connected to, seeing as the building had no basement. Either way, Gail did not care. She was only going to be there for a minute.

Gail rushed up the stairs and opened the large metal door at the top, shoving it until it slid open. It was a heavy door, probably made completely of metal, and was the only access to the roof that Gail knew of. Her apartment didn't have any of the nifty ladders running up the sides, except for the fire escapes of course.

Gail stepped out onto the cold gravel. She tightened her jacket around her and shivered at the chill. Moonlight shone down from the sky, the air crisp and cold. Gail's heavy breaths made large clouds of warm air float on the wind. She smiled, stepped out onto the roof.

It was a beautiful night. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, the air crisp and sharp. Bright lights filtered from other buildings and from neon lights in shops and parties below. In the distance she could hear the screeching of tires, loud music blasting from a dance club, and the loud chatter from people probably below her apartment complex. Gail blinked, smiling slightly, clenching her fingers from the chill that had already begun to seep in. She pulled a pair of gloves from her pocket, sliding them over her hands. Hopefully they wouldn't hinder her typing abilities.

Gail set her laptop down, sliding into a sitting position next to it, her feet dangling over the edge of the building. She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed.

Was there any way Gail could condole her mistake? She was about to turn her back on her friend…how could she? She was a bigger jerk than everyone thought Seto was! Seto probably didn't betray his friends, that is, if he had any friends to betray. Gail vaguely wondered if Seto considered her his friend. Gail considered him to be a friend, but from what Yugi had told her, Seto didn't have friends. She vaguely remembered him talking about Seto during her interview with him a while ago. He had said, "Kaiba doesn't have friends; he has close acquaintances". Gail sighed. And by the time this was done, he would have one less.

Gail pulled her laptop onto her knees, making sure to hold it tightly with the other: dropping her laptop off a building and having it crushed on the ground was probably not a damage that the insurance of her company would cover. She waited for the screen to warm up, the light bright in the darkness despite the light coming from signs and street lamps that had made their way up to the roof.

A white Word document flashed onto the screen. She glanced it over. From what she could see, her spelling was impeccable, her grammar perfect, and her whole document in correct formatting. Of course, she'd let the designers and editors decide that. The large words at the top flashed menacingly at her: **Interview with Seto Kaiba**.

Gail sighed and looked at the virtual paper with dreary eyes. She was a terrible person…wasn't she.

Gail's parents had spent years teaching her that people came first then work. They had always followed that. They fed neighbors, spent years perfecting relationships between themselves and friends. To them, it seemed people were everything.

_And look where that put them_, Gail thought bitterly. _My friends are all off in college. We haven't talked since high school. Now, look where this has gotten me! I have no friends, or none that I keep in contact with. Vellie is probably one of the only people I talk to regularly. And besides her, Seto. And now…I'm about to lose him…why did I place my job first? Why? Mom, Dad, why did you leave me? Without this job, I have nothing! I'll be less than nothing! I'll have lost everything!_

Gail held back tears. When her parents had died, all she had left was work and college. Without college, work remained. And without work…there was nothing. She would have nothing left. She would have to find work elsewhere. But where was she to find work around here? Maybe Vellie could help her find a position at the diner, or Mr. Skipton employing her at his shop.

Gail brushed away her tears fiercely. But that wasn't going to happen. She was going to get this job done. She had to. There was no other way. Gail slid her finger over the mouse pad, the mouse following her movements as she directed it to the top of the screen over the small printer icon. And before she could change her mind, she pushed the button.

"_Interview with Seto Kaiba" is now printing._

Gail closed her laptop gently. The world went dark as the screen light died. It was over. There was nothing Gail could do now. The work was printing at her office. Her boss would find it in a few minutes on his closing rounds and give it to the editors and designers to place it in tomorrow's edition of Duel Monster Magazine. Even if she wanted to change it, she couldn't. She had already sent in her article. Now, the interview was in.

Gail rose to her feet, her laptop securely at her side. She rubbed her stomach. There was no use feeling guilty now. She couldn't do anything about it anyways. Tomorrow, the secret would be out. She had gotten the first ever interview on Seto Kaiba. But that wasn't all. She had probably also just done the one thing a journalist was always taught not to do: Never go against the client in what they want…they're the ones with the money.

* * *

Seto sighed deeply, stretching out his stiff arms. He rose to his feet, pacing around slightly. The blood had stopped circulating in his legs again. It was a usual occurrence for him, who spent a lot of his time in the day sitting down. He had his moments of exercise, though. How else would he stay so thin?

Seto picked up his iPhone from his bedside table. It was early, at around six in the morning. Seto had opened the curtains over the room's window, the faintest light shining against building next to his. As his room faced west, he couldn't see the sunrise. But that was fine by him.

Seto almost sat down again. He had been flipping through the _History of the Peloponnesian War_ for hours and he was still deeply interested. The book was very well written and made a lot of sense. The book itself made it feel even more interesting: the old pages crackled beneath his gentle touch, the binding frail. The smell of the book was musty and elderly, as though it had been locked in a box underground for a few centuries. According to the inside, it had been published in 1954, but the pages made it seem a lot older.

Seto sat back on his bed. He had fully prepared to go to sleep, dressing in the silky white pajamas he usually slept in, but the book he had bought earlier managed to convince him to stay up most of the night, sleep for around four hours, then wake up and continue. Seto could hardly put the book down, and he was still only in book five out of eight books. How Thucydides had managed to write an entire, detailed history at a time when histories were mostly mythological was beyond Seto. Talk about a person that had completely changed history in general! Seto had always had a liking of history. He had studied Asian, European, and American history for a long time. His History textbook had been one of the first ones that Gozuboro had given him that Seto had actually enjoyed from the start. Seto had learned mathematics and sciences easily, but history had been extremely enjoyable. It was one of the few books that Seto could read on his spare time that he wouldn't be scolded about. Other books were considered candy for the mind, useless to Gozuboro. But history…his stepfather was fine with that.

Seto sighed and rose back to his feet, watching as the sky outside his window grew lighter. He sighed, setting his phone back down. He might as well get ready for the day and find something to eat. His stomach growled something awful, the acids in his empty stomach tossing as turning as though in a cement mixer. Seto sighed. If he were at home in Kaiba Mansion, all he would have to do it snap his fingers and food would be brought to him…all right, that was a slight exaggeration: he would have to usually call up his cook on the intercom system or actually get up and make himself something to eat. Then again, "make" was another long shot, as Seto, when in a rush, was prone to grabbing anything from granola bars and cereal to tuna and jellied cranberry cans for a quick snack. Even he sometimes wondered how he stayed so thin.

Seto pulled out a clean black turtleneck from his suitcase, along with a crisp pair of black slacks. He reluctantly closed his book and stepped into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

As soon as Seto was clean and fully dressed, he left his hotel room, stepping out into the empty hallway. He was actually rather surprised that no one was there. He had assumed that six in the morning would be a rather crowded time, but no one seemed to be stirring. He checked his watch. It was only Wednesday. There was no reason for anyone else to be home, not on a working day. Seto shrugged and continued onwards. He slid into the empty elevator, holding down the closed door button and the first level button, as he had seen Gail do. From what he had seen, there was unlikely to be anyone else in the building that might need the elevator, but Seto wasn't in the mood to wait: he never was.

The elevator dinged open, Seto stepping out into the lobby area. He immediately walked towards the large revolving doors that led outside. His black Ferrari waited in the parking lot.

"E-e-e-excuse m-me…Mr. Kaiba?" A stuttering voice came from behind the front desk. Seto turned his head ever so slightly so he could look at the speaker. She was a tall young woman with short, bobbed blond hair wearing a blue and white uniform. Her face was pale, but her cheeks a brilliant red. Her hands shook at her sides.

_Oh please,_ Seto inwardly groaned,_ I really don't have time for more females in my life! I swear, if she—_.

"I have…I have your mail, sir," she said quietly, holding a group of papers out to him, all bundles together nicely with a rubber band.

Seto let out a sigh and turned around, taking them from her. It would delay him of course…but then again, they might hold some random news he might need to know. He shrugged and slid the rubber band from around the pages, pocketing it.

Bills were on the top. Seto ignored them. He would look at them later. Insurance came next. Seto ignored those as well. Then, directly in the middle, was a magazine…and it had his face on it… Blue eyes stared back up at Seto, hair shaggy but neat, and mouth pinched slightly. It was an older picture, probably from around a year ago, but Seto's image still matched it exactly.

Seto stared at the magazine in shock. He scanned the front cover. The title said, "Dragon of Duels: Kaiba reveals all!", and directly below it was a smaller subtitle: "Gail Hanson gets major interview with KaibaCorp CEO. See page 14 for details".

Seto read it over and over. But the one word that popped out larger and larger each time, the one that his eyes were always drawn to, was "interview". Seto's mind raced. Interview…he had asked specifically _not_ to have one! What was going…?

It took Seto less than half a second to piece it all together. A rage built within his chest. How could Gail?! She had gone directly behind his back and done what he had specifically told her not to. All that time they had spent together, "getting to know each other better" as Gail had said…had all of that been really a twisted form of an interview? He had told her so many thing during then…things that were meant to be kept confidential. But…why?

It didn't matter. All Seto knew was that she had betrayed him. He had trusted her to do the job right…and she had done wrong. Seto felt a snarl turn his lips, hardness fill his heart, and anger fill his whole body.

She was going to pay for what she had done. No one messed with Seto Kaiba and got away with it. No one.

Seto whipped out his phone which he had slipped back into his pocket, stalking back to the elevator. Any thought of food was forgotten.

Seto punched in a few numbers, growling as his long legs covered the ground in strides. He waited impatiently, tapping his foot against the ground and forcing himself not to punch the walls of the elevator. And all the while, his mind raced.

_Gail, how could you do this to me? You took all of the trust I gave to you, all of the words that I spoke to you in confidence that you would never speak of them, and threw it all out for the entire world to see…how could I have trusted you? What could have made me possibly believe that you were trustworthy?_

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the ringing from his phone ceased and a deep rumbling voice took its place. "Yes, Mr. Kaiba?"

"Roland," Seto snarled, "I want the Strike Team in San Francisco, pronto."

"Were you hurt in any way, Mr. Kaiba?" Roland's voice was slightly anxious.

"No," Seto snapped, glaring down at his face on the front page of Duel Monsters Magazine, "but I have been majorly ticked off."

* * *

**(*yawns*) Normally I'd take the time to write something meaningful here, but I'm too tired at the moment, so I'll catch up with you all later! **

**One more chapter to...zzzzzzzzzzzzz**


	12. One Last Chance

**This is just how spazzed out I was last night...I accidentally posted the last chapter before posting one before, so if you were all confused, I apologize majorly for that! Thank you so much futureauthor13 for catching that. I am so sorry about this! **

**Anyhow, enjoy the chapter that was supposed to be posted, but wasn't.**

* * *

"Gail, this is fantastic!"

Gail's boss had been rambling on for what felt like hours, but as Gail glanced for a second at the large clock on her boss' wall, they had been in there for only around twenty minutes. Still, it was quite a length of time for her boss to be speaking.

He strutted around the room proudly, speaking extremely highly of Gail's article. But of the interview, he simply gushed out praise. The way he spoke made Gail seem like she had dug out a nugget of gold and had given it to her boss as a present. Apparently, nothing had needed to be edited in her work. The designers had given it to the boss raw for final detailing.

Apparently the reason it was so perfect to the boss was that everyone else agreed that it was fantastic. The magazine edition had sold out completely. He was planning on reposting it in next months' as well.

"And for your deed," he said, "I'm raising your pay! Do you want a higher position as well? I'm sure we could find something suitable…"

Gail winced. The boss made it sound like she had just gone on some great quest and came back having slain a dragon. And in some ways, she had; it was just a lot messier than it sounded.

"I really can't accept higher pay," Gail said quietly. "I'll be fine with what I have." Her stomach churned as she became aware of the small slip of paper slid into her back pocket. She hadn't cashed in Seto's check. It was nearly burning holes of guilt into her side. She wasn't sure what she was going to do with it, but cashing it in felt wrong, especially after what she had done.

Her boss glared back at her with his small, dark eyes. "If I say you're getting higher pay, then you are. You have nothing to be humble about, my dear! Your story is a hit! Phones have been flying off the shelves with praise for your work! Everywhere, Duelists find you amazing. They think your interview especially was very enlightening."

_Yeah,_ Gail though sadly, _on all the things they didn't need to know…_

Gail nodded slowly. "Well…I had…I had better get back to my office and start brainstorming my next story!" She played a very false sense of enthusiasm, but apparently she did it well enough that it was enough to fool her boss, either that or he was in an overly good mood from it all, for he nodded brightly.

"And you do just that, my little prodigy!" He said pleasantly, opening the door for her.

Gail walked down the hall slowly and walked to the elevator, hoping desperately for it to be empty; Gail wasn't sure if she could handle a whole elevator of fans. Fortunately, it had exactly one person in it. Unfortunately, it had the one journalist Gail had been hoping to avoid.

Carla M. Medici, ace journalist.

Gail leaned against one of the walls of the elevator, avoiding the redhead's gaze and trying to ignore the messed up feeling in her stomach. All she wanted was to be alone, and she really didn't need any scorning words at the moment.

"Hey."

Gail grunted in reply.

"I just wanted to let you know that I really like your article and interview."

Gail blinked sharply, looking up ever so slightly. Carla stood next to her, looking down at the slumped Gail with calm green eyes.

Gail stood straighter, almost in shock. "You…you do?"

Carla nodded. "It was worded very well. The amusement park sounds really interesting. But the interview…how did you get so much information out of someone so rough?"

Gail shrugged. "It wasn't all that hard."

Carla blinked in surprise. "Really? Because, he wasn't exactly the nicest person on the planet."

Gail paused, contemplating her next move. "Carla…" she said slowly, "how many times have you broken the rules?"

Carla looked slightly surprised as she brushed back a spare strand of her curly hair that had fallen in front of her eyes. "More times than I can count. I have a habit of following the trends set around me. Did you ever read those papers with the gossip columns about who the best looking actors and actresses?"

Gail blinked slowly. "Not really. They never really appealed to me."

Carla brushed her hair back again, almost absentmindedly. "Well, you're lucky then. I was obsessed with those things. I read somewhere that the better looking journalists were the ones that got the best stories. Suddenly, I didn't want to be the best journalist when it came to writing; I wanted to be the best _looking_ one. So I changed my whole appearance." She gazed down at her body. "Plastic surgery, nose job, face lift, basically everything you can think of. And where did it get me? Almost to the top. But…you still had what it really took." She gave a weak smile to Gail. "You had the writing and people skills to get through it. I can write, but you have more talent than I do."

"Maybe," Gail said, "but I still seriously messed up." She glanced sharply at Carla. "Why are you being so nice to me all of the sudden?"

Carla shrugged. "You're a good writer. I was hoping it had just been a fluke, all your fame, because you're so…normal and so young. I spent all my life trying to be special. I was shocked that you could be so simple and so good at the same time. How can you say you messed up when you did so well?"

Gail swallowed, sighing. "I broke a rule, one of the first journalist rules. The client is always right. Isn't that what they always teach us?"

Carla nodded.

"Seto Kaiba told me he specifically didn't want an interview. And I did one anyways…because I was afraid of losing my job." Gail wasn't sure why she was telling this to Carla of all people. Maybe it was because she felt too guilty to tell it to Miranda. If Vellie was around, Gail would probably have told the story to her, but Vellie was at her diner. Gail didn't feel nearly so guilty around Carla. "I went directly behind his back and wrote down all of the things he told me about his life when I convinced him it was just all in good fun and totally off the record." Gail buried her face in her hands. "How could I do that to someone? I feel like the biggest jerk of all time!"

"Well…if it helps, I've probably screwed up more times than you and I'm still employed."

Gail sighed. "But was it for people as rich and bratty as Seto Kaiba?"

Carla thought for a moment. "Actually…yeah. I…well…let's just say I had a moment of weakness with a business owner, one that didn't end so well for me. But hey, my life isn't over yet. Sometimes, you've just got to move on with your life, take another step in another direction." She shrugged slightly. "If you don't make a step in he wrong direction, you'll never know it's the wrong way."

Gail blinked in surprise.

The elevator dinged open in a rather annoyingly happy way for the moment that was ensuing. Gail took a deep breath and stepped off the elevator. She turned back and gazed at Carla. Was there some connection now between them? Gail almost felt as though something were growing. What was it, a sympathetic sort of bond? Either way, Gail seemed to understand the woman in front of her better than she had before. "Hey Carla, want to have a chat over dinner some night? I know a great diner."

Carla's mouth twitched into a smile. "I'd like that a lot." And with that the door shut and the elevator was off again.

Gail gave a half smile. It was odd that she was getting along with Carla, at least slightly, after a whole week of rivalry. She and Carla had been avoiding one another for most of the time, but anytime they ran into each other, the insults began. How one mess of a story could bring them together, Gail wasn't sure, but she was amazed all the same.

But before she could even begin to feel the slightest form of happiness, Gail's stomach reminded her of her misdeeds. Gail felt tears brim her eyes. She knew it must be an odd sight, a newly famous journalist standing in front of an elevator door and crying, right in the middle of a hallway. She hurriedly brushed her eyes with the back of her hand as she walked quickly into her office, shutting the door behind her quietly and locking it.

A storm of tears rushed over Gail's cheeks as she sunk into her couch. Sobs erupted in her chest. She could do nothing to overcome the rush of despair that clouded over her mind. She felt like the most horrible person on earth. She was so selfish, always worrying about herself.

Gail slowly pulled the check from her back pocket, holding it up. The amount written on the thin slip of paper was quite a large amount. Seto really was a multibillionaire. He could spend his money on journalists who didn't do the job right.

Gail resisted the urge to stick the piece of paper into her paper shredder, to forget about it. No, she had the strangest urge to give it back. But why? Seto had probably, in all his rage, forgotten about the sum of money. For all Gail knew, he was probably stalking up her hallway right now to strip her of her title and have her boss fire her. And Seto could do that.

Gail sighed as she brushed her tears away, folding the check neatly and sliding it back into her pocket. She would give it back to Seto. She would swallow her pride and fear, march right up to Seto and apologize. It would probably be the only thing that would release her guilt and get her stomach back under control. And…it was the right thing to do. Gail had spent a week of her life doing what wasn't right…it was time to turn that around.

* * *

"_We have her under surveillance, sir,_" came a deep voice on one end of the phone.

Seto nodded, cracking a dark smile. "Good. Tell me as soon as she leaves the building. I'm going to want you to bring her to me, but tell me before she leaves. I want to know everything."

"_Of course, sir._"

Seto set the phone down on his desk, crossing his arms. The bright, sunny day outside did nothing to help his mood. He was angry, and felt darker than the new moon. And when Seto was in a bad mood, people tended to get fired.

He was still enraged about Gail. He was going to set an example, as he always did when someone tried to double cross him in any way, shape, or form. Gail would be brought before him, her job stripped from her, and cast off. If Seto was feeling especially nasty, he might even make it so Gail could not be hired into any other writing position ever again. She would have to find another line of work. And from what Seto had learned from Gail during their talks, she loved writing.

If Gail was going to use their time together against him, then he would do the same.

Seto's hotel room was in impeccable condition. Seto happened to be an extremely neat person, his bed made, floor absolutely clean, and clothes all neatly packed. Tomorrow, he would head back to Japan. He had had enough of San Francisco.

His laptop sat neatly on his bed. Seto hadn't checked his computer since the day before. He had been too busy making phone calls. It had been a long time since he had gone for such a period without checking his computer. Instead, he sat at the desk that the hotel had thoughtfully provided when he had taken out the room, magazine and phone in front of him.

Seto had gone through the article and interview what felt like a hundred times. They were both well written, but Seto would never actually admit that out loud. The two works were formatted attractively in a way that was pleasing to the eye, the words flowing together well. Yugi had been right: Gail was a very good writer. But what she had done with her talent was what had Seto on the verge of having her shot. She had revealed many of the things he had told her in privacy, about his family situation and work life. To the wrong eye, they could seem like weaknesses, and Seto was against weakness. It was the reason he rarely ever cried or showed emotions of any kind. Because as he had been "taught" by Gozuboro, to have emotions meant that you had some weakness. And for a young business owner, weakness was one of the worst things that could come over him. When he had become the CEO of KaibaCorp at age twelve, he was scorned and looked down upon. Older, more experienced business men would push Seto around, make him feel as though he had just walked into the wrong room. Seto learned to be brutal and harsh, cold and unforgiving, anything that would show the older business men that he had what it took.

Seto slapped the magazine over onto its back, where there was a large advertisement for a KaibaCorp Duel Disk. Seto couldn't even stand to look at the front cover. It was humiliating. And Seto hated to be humiliated. He glared down at the magazine sourly. Now he was in a _really_ bad mood.

_Ring._

Seto picked up his phone, about to hit the answer button when he realized it was not who he expected. Instead of the head of his Strike Team, a feminine name flashed in the screen, the face that came up one of a dark haired woman with brown eyes and a quiet smile. _Michiko Iino_…his personal secretary.

_Ring._

Seto set the phone down and ignored the annoying rings. He had to get a new ring tone. The simple, digital ring was beginning to annoy him. Maybe he could find another one that was simple and yet not so blatantly obnoxious. It seemed everything was annoying to him right now. He could practically scream out obscenities in annoyance.

_Ring._

Seto swore loudly in Arabic and grabbed the phone, nearly screaming into it. "What could be so important that you could possibly call me at a time like this?!" He breathed heavily, forcing back more foreign swear words. His grip on his phone was so tight that if the casing had not been as tough as it was, he would possibly have broken it, as phones previously in his ownership had fallen to.

The line was quiet for a few seconds as Seto let out long, harsh breaths. Finally, the calm feminine voice came over from the other end. "_I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Kaiba. You told me not to call you before seven in the morning. As it is eleven o' clock in the morning, I deemed it an acceptable time to call._"

"Well you deemed wrong," Seto snapped. "I happen to be extremely busy! Why the crap did you call me anyways?!"

"_I thought this might be a good time to offer you congratulations._"

"And what," Seto said with a deadly calmness, "could you possibly have to congratulate me about? There is nothing worth congratulations!" _I swear, if she says wrong word…_

How Michiko stayed so calm, Seto didn't know, but it annoyed him even farther. One false move and the secretary would find herself searching for a new job.

"_I can assume that you haven't heard the news yet, then._"

"What news?" Seto said slowly through gritted teeth.

"_About the preordered tickets for KaibaLand. They've completely sold out._"

Seto stopped dead. "They…what?"

"_They've sold out completely, Mr. Kaiba_," Michiko said calmly, "_This morning, almost all of them were bought. There was a huge rush for them. The charts have gone wild._"

Seto nearly dropped his phone in shock. "But…but how?"

"_We asked the same question. Quite a few duelists called in late, wanting tickets. Apparently, it has something to do with an interview._"

Seto had to pull his phone away from his ear in order to think correctly. He took a few deeps breaths, pulling his thoughts together. He pulled the phone back towards him. "What did they say about this 'interview'?"

"_They said they greatly enjoyed getting to know you better as a person. It helped them understand your passion._" Michiko paused. "_I'm not exactly sure what interview they're speaking of, Mr. Kaiba. You never do media._"

Seto made a split-second decision. "I…I had some journalist do an interview along with the article about KaibaLand. Apparently it went well?"

"_It went better than that, Mr. Kaiba. Calls have been coming in from all over the United States! Everyone wants tickets to the KaibaCorp Grand Championship as well as simply to KaibaLand. As soon as you return, people are asking how many tickets will be for sale at KaibaLand and if you will make any more for preorders._"

Seto nodded. "I'll be sure to look into it. Good bye."

"_Good bye, Mr. Kaiba._" The phone went into a long ring as the other end hung up.

Seto hung up, setting his phone down. A feeling of emptiness rested inside him. What he had thought was bad…

_Ring._

Seto grabbed his phone and held it to his ear. "Hello?"

"_Mr. Kaiba,_" the voice of Seto's Strike Team came through the phone, "_Ms. Hanson is leaving her office. Would you like us to bring her in now?_"

Seto took a few long breaths, going through all the possibilities in his mind. Somehow, what had gone wrong was now an advantage to him. Did he really need to figure it out now?

"_Mr. Kaiba?_" The voice was hesitant. Seto had never waited on an order before.

"You know what?" Seto said calmly, "Why don't you just let her go?"

"_Sir?_"

"It's been a long morning," Seto commented pleasantly, "why don't you all head back to Japan? I'll be on my way home tomorrow morning. Alright?"

"_A-as you wish, sir_," the voice stuttered slightly.

"Good day," Seto said as he hung up, not waiting for an answer. He set his phone down and leaned back in his chair. He smiled to himself, almost satisfied. It seemed everything had a way of working itself out. Seto stood and pulled off his jacket. He needed another shower.

* * *

Gail stood in front of the hotel, bag over her shoulder, and breaths hard. She tightened her grip on her legal pad in front of her. The check still in her back pocket felt as heavy as lead. And the more she stood in the front of the hotel trying to build up her confidence, the more her thoughts and courage waned and waxed to their desires.

_Come on, Gail_, she though harshly to herself, _you can do this. It's the right thing to do. Just walk in there and hand him back his check. Then ask for forgiveness. You _know_ you have to do this. _

_He's going to kick you out_, another part of Gail thought with a sneer, _He'll never forgive you after what you've done. He'll call your boss and have you fired. Then he'll call your landlord and have you kicked out from your apartment! You'll live on the streets!_

_He's not _that_ cruel_, the first side snapped.

_Are you sure about that?_ The other side said bitterly, _Look at what he's done to his own employees! He fires them without a second thought! You'll be next, especially after what you've done. You've crushed more than his hard reputation. You crushed his pride. And we all know Seto has a lot of that!_

"Well I don't care!" Gail finally screeched out loud. She immediately slapped her hand over her mouth, avoiding the odd glances she was now receiving from people due to her outburst.

_You listen here, brain,_ She thought, _I did wrong and I need to fix it. No matter what the cost is, I have an obligation to tell Seto I'm sorry. I'm going to flat out refuse my boss' pay raise, and if I have to, beg Seto for forgiveness. I can't go on like this. I have to try to fix my mistake._

Gail marched up to the hotel doors and walked through them, striding up to the front desk and slapping her legal pad down. "Excuse me. I'm here for a Mr. Seto Kaiba. Can you please tell me what room he's staying in?"

The tall woman turned around, her cute blond hair bobbing slightly. "Can I have your name, please?"

"Gail Addison Hanson," Gail answered slowly. The woman flipped through a pad of paper on the top of her desk, notes written on each of the colored pieces of paper.

"Ah, yes," she said, looking up, "Mr. Kaiba is expecting you. He's in room 719. Please knock before entering and have a nice day."

_Seto's waiting for me? He _really _must have something planned out for me._ Gail nodded slowly and swallowed. "Thank you." She grabbed her legal pad off the desk and walked to the elevator.

The ride was torture. With every inch that the metal box moved, Gail was one step closer to her doom. Gail made sure not to use her handy elevator trick; anyone that wanted to go to another floor before she hit hers was fine by her. It would allow her more time to think and avoid her fate.

Unfortunately for her, no one came into the elevator. Gail was alone, and the elevator shot straight up to the seventh floor without any delay. Gail felt her stomach give another whirl. She was going to throw up, she knew it. And if she didn't throw up, she was going to cry instead. Either way, Gail wasn't happy with the result.

Gail stepped off the elevator slowly. Her legs felt like Jell-O beneath her. Her lower lip trembled with the prospect of tears. The hallway she walked down felt at some times like it was speeding by and at others as though it took an eternity to walk. Gail couldn't decide if she wanted to delay the coming of the confrontation, or to just get it over with.

Gail stopped in front of the door. She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. Cursing, she undid her scarf and unbuttoned her coat with fumbling fingers. She leaned from foot to foot, contemplating her words, but nothing would come to her flustered mind. She smacked her head in annoyance. At any other time, words would have flowed from her mind as smoothly as skates over ice. But now she had nothing. She had to come up with something fast. Situations and plans skittered furiously in her head, but they were so unrealistic that Gail nearly screamed in frustration. She tugged at her ponytail angrily, almost stamping her feet.

The door opened.

Gail stopped dead in her movements. She turned around slowly, facing the tall, dark man that stood before her. His eyes shone coldly, lips pressed in an icy thin line. His expression was one of cold fury.

Every idea Gail had had and every set of words she had planned to say simply left her mind. The legal pad dropped from her limp, shaking hands. Gail swallowed hard. She slowly pulled out the check from her pocket and held it out, bowing her head. Her lips refused to move, her legs doing the same. She was stuck. And she waited.

It felt like an eternity. Gail simply stayed there, her eyes closed and tears brimming at her lids. Her lips trembled. Fear flowed through her body. Just looking at Seto's face had given away everything: he was going to crush her spirit as she had crushed his pride. Gail felt a tear streak down her face.

"Come inside."

Gail's eyes snapped open. She gazed up at Seto's face. The expression hadn't changed, or not majorly so. She looked into his eyes. The blue, that harsh blue that managed look directly through her, the ones that could chill a fire, that were icy in context but dark in shade…they were warmer than usual. They seemed to mimic the ocean now more than ice. They glowed instead of shining. Gail felt something rise in her chest, a calmness that she hadn't been expecting.

Seto held the door open, stepping away and waiting. Gail swallowed hard, brushing away her tears. She slowly stepped into the room. Seto closed the door behind her, stepping front of her and into the small hotel room. It was, in terms of cleanliness, spick and span. A suitcase sat neatly on a perfectly made bed, which meant Seto was probably leaving for Japan the next day. The sun shone through an open window, the sounds of the city below rising on the breeze and flowing through the opening. The wind brushed playfully against the petals of a group of flowers in a vase on the bedside table next to a small lamp and two mugs of steaming liquid.

Seto pushed up a wooden chair next to the bed, grabbing one of the mugs and handing it to Gail. Gail by this time had begun to hiccup slightly and took the cup gratefully, wiping spare tears from her eyes. Now that she had started, it was hard to stop crying. She gulped down a mouthful of the transparent liquid. Her tongue seared with pain, but she managed to taste the tea in the mug: Earl Grey.

"Sit," Seto ordered, motioning towards the bed. Gail dared not argue. She immediately moved over to the neat bed and sat down on the edge. She took another sip of her tea, calming herself down enough that her hiccups slowly stopped. She sniffled slightly, wiping her cheeks as she set her bag down next to her on the bed.

Seto sat in the hard, wooden chair. He laid down Gail's legal pad next to her. Gail realized he must have picked it up for her. She mumbled a thank you as she took another long drink of her beverage.

Gail sighed deeply as she took another breath. She looked down at her hands. In one was the mug, in the other a now tear-spotted slip of paper. She slowly held out the paper again, avoiding Seto's gaze. "Mr. Kaiba," she said slowly and as respectfully as possible, "I offer you…I…" She broke off, confused by her own words. "Seto, I don't deserve this money. I really don't. I was being selfish and only thinking of myself. I picked my job over you, and now I'm paying for it. Take the money back and take my job from me! I only ask for your forgiveness. Please." A sob rose in her chest, her whole body racking as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Seto…I'm so sorry…I've been a total jerk to you!" She broke off again, her head falling as her shoulders rose and quivered with each cry.

Seto finally spoke, after what seemed to Gail like hours of tears. "My only question," he said slowly, "is why?"

"I-I-I was on the verge of losing my job," Gail managed to say through sobs, "My boss told me that if I didn't manage to write a good story in a week, then he would have to let me go. I was going to be replaced and I was desperate!" She gazed up at Seto tearfully. "I thought my job was more important than my friends. I can't believe I was such a jerk! You have every right to be angry at me."

Seto rose to his feet, pacing around the room.

_He's coming up with my punishment,_ Gail thought, _I deserve his worst._

Seto stopped in front of the bed. "Gail," his voice was quiet. Gail swallowed down more tears, pulling off her glasses and wiping the dampness from the lenses. "Whether I like it or not, you've done me a favor."

Gail's head snapped to attention. She slid her glasses back on. "What? How could what I did possibly be good?"

"That was my question," Seto grumbled slightly, "but your interview did exactly what I hired you for: you managed to attract the attention of every duelist in America. The preorders for tickets for KaibaLand have completely sold out. We might need to print more." His eyes shone against the bright light as he turned to Gail completely. "So I feel obligated to offer you some form of thanks."

Gail felt her cheeks flush. "Don't thank me. It'll just make me feel worse." She held out the check. "Take your money back. Even if I helped you out, my intentions were wrong. I don't deserve your money or your thanks."

"Keep the money," Seto said sharply, "I have no use for it. Spend it any way you would like."

Gail threw her hand out. "Stop being nice and just take the money back! I can't accept it without feeling guilty. Just take it back!"

Seto eyed the check, his cold eyes inspecting and hard. Slowly, he shook his head. "No." He turned away. "Put it in your bag and fix that sticky door of yours."

Gail swallowed hard as she looked down at the small check. She gently slid it back in her bag. Maybe she would be able to somehow sneak it back to Seto later, when he wasn't expecting it.

"I expect to see you at the Grand Championship."

Gail blinked in surprise. "Wait…what?"

Seto turned his head so it was at a profile view to Gail, his blue eyes shimmering. "The dueling competition at KaibaLand. I'm hiring you out to write for it. Of course there will be other journalists there, but you're a better writer than many of them."

"You're offering me a job," Gail said in surprise, "after this?"

Seto dipped his head slightly. "You're a good writer, Gail, more so than I'd like to admit. The Championship will take place in half a year, over the summer. I expect you to be there. You'll find your ticket waiting in your apartment."

Gail blinked. "I'm not sure whether to be honored or…shocked!"

"Honored would be better," Seto said, his tone almost amused, "tickets to this amusement park aren't cheap."

"Except to underprivileged children," Gail pointed out, a smile coming to her lips.

Seto nodded, turning back away.

Gail's smile warmed and widened. She set her tea down and slowly walked up behind Seto. "You know, Seto? I don't care what other people say. I think you're really sweet."

Seto snorted. "You had better not say that outside this room. I have a reputation to uphold."

Gail managed a small laugh. "A reputation as a jerk? It's a wonder you even survive the normal world!"

"If you survive the business world," Seto commented lightly, "then you can survive the normal world easily. You have ten minutes left on your lunch break. I would advise you to get back to your office."

Gail hurriedly checked her watch. Seto was, of course, right as usual. She hurried back over to the bed, grabbing her bag and legal pad. "Um…where do you want me to put the mug?"

"Leave it there."

Gail nodded and walked quickly to the door. She turned back one final time, gazing at the back of the tall man who stood in the middle of the room, facing away from her. She gave a small smile. "Seto…thank you…so much."

And with that, she left.

* * *

**Okay, NOW you can read the next chapter...**


	13. The Separating

**Please enjoy the last chapter of Windswept**

* * *

Gail rushed into the living room, sliding on her slippers as the coffee pot in her kitchen whistled loudly and the phone nearby rang. She grabbed the phone off the hook, and held it up next to her ear, leaning her shoulder into the metal and plastic device so that her hands were both free. "Hello?" she called out, running to her kitchen and pulling the coffee pot off the burner of her stove.

"_Hey Gail! Are we still on for lunch?_"

"Hey Carla!" Gail said cheerfully. She glanced at her clock. "Yeah, how about I pick you up at your apartment in about twenty minutes?"

"_Alright with me. See you then!_"

"See ya!" Gail hung up the phone and finished making her tea, taking a long drink. She sighed and crossed an arm around her stomach, relaxing for a second in content. She set her tea down. If she was going to make it Carla's place, Gail would have to hurry.

She forced the rest of the scalding tea down in one gulp, gasping for breath as she set the mug down and hastened to find her things. Gail grabbed her coat and slid on a pair of boots, grabbing a small envelope off her countertop and slipping it into one of her pockets with a smile. _Just in case…_ She rushed into her room and gabbed one of her many scarves, a golden and brown one. She tied it around her neck hurriedly. While it may not snow in San Francisco, it sure as heck got cold there!

Gail stepped in front of her large calendar for a second. She had had to upgrade to a larger calendar since yesterday: calls had been flooding in from people wanting to hire her out for jobs. Her calendar was filled with names of people. Her one at work was even fuller. Gail gently touched the large paper that was clipped to the side. Her ticket; it was exactly where Seto had said it would be. Whenever Gail had to remember something small, whether it was a coupon or a note, she always clipped it to her calendar. Gail smiled. It was going to be an exciting six months until the Championship!

Gail opened her door smoothly and walked out after grabbing her bag, the lock of the door clicking behind her. She hadn't hesitated after yesterday; when Seto had said to fix her door and had given her permission, she had immediately called in a locksmith. He fit her door with a nice clean knob and lock. Getting in and out of her house was easy now.

Gail rushed down the steps, not bothering to take the elevator. She could use the exercise anyways. Air buffeted across her cheeks, her smile widening. She bounded down the stairs, taking them two or three at a time, a hand on her glasses so they wouldn't come flying off. Her energy felt boundless, and it probably wasn't from all the tea she just consumed. She was just in a rather good mood. It was as though yesterday never happened. Her tears and guilt were just about gone. Gail was satisfied.

Carla's apartment was rather close. Gail managed to get there with two minutes to spare. Carla was waiting outside. Her teal coat clashed nicely with her red hair, which she had braided back, and she wore a pair of purple pants and brown boots. Gail almost rolled her eyes. It was a no-brainer why Carla had just been called in for a spot in a nearby magazine to write for a fashion section. Her ideas were radical, but somehow worked.

Lucky Strike Diner was only a few miles away, but Gail was glad for the talking time she and Carla managed to get in. She had slowly begun to warm up to the redhead. Carla was actually a rather nice girl. She was like Gail in the way that her annoyed attitude had come from the desperation for a job at DMM. Now that it was settled, there was really no need to continue with their rivalry.

"Is this the place?" Carla asked, gazing out the window.

Gail drove into the parking lot and smoothly parked her Camaro into a small space. Lucky Strike Diner had never really been a place with a lunch rush, though Gail wasn't sure why. The place had great food and wonderful service. It should have been more popular than it already was.

Gail nodded, unlocking her doors. "Yup. Let's go!" She slid out of the car and locked it behind her. The two women walked up to the small building, neon lights off in the daytime, but the colors still shining from the sun. Gail glanced around, smiling slightly. There was the car she was looking for, a parked a few away from hers: a black Ferrari. So he _was_ here. Gail had been expecting Seto to be at the diner. He was leaving today, but from the note he had left her with the ticket, his flight wasn't until late afternoon. So it really was no surprise that he was eating something before he left. It was only his rough start with Vellie that had Gail wondering how everything was faring in the diner.

The two young women entered the diner. Immediately, Vellie was upon them. The dark haired girl popped her bubble gum loudly over the sound of frying food and whirring shakes. Her notepad was in her hand, a smile on her freckled face. "Table for two?"

"You're getting faster," Gail commented with a grin, as Vellie led them to a small booth, setting down menus in front of them.

Vellie shrugged. "I had an opening. I was just on my way back to get a sandwich for your emo boyfriend over there."

Gail rolled her eyes. "He's not emo and he's not my boyfriend, Vellie!"

"Is that Kaiba boy here?" Carla asked with interest.

"Yeah," Vellie popped her gum again, "and he's a dark as ever! I've been trying to get him to even look at me, and that's hard enough! He's so into his laptop, he might as well pop the question right now! He ordered a turkey and cheddar melt on rye, hold the mayo, with a side order of tomato soup and a small salad with balsamic vinaigrette. At least he has good taste in food." She eyed Gail suspiciously. "You sure you two aren't a thing?"

Gail snorted. "If we could stop arguing, _maybe_ something would spark…but we're almost opposites. So no. It wouldn't work out anyway. He's a multibillionaire, remember?"

"I would date him," Carla commented almost dreamily. "He's really attractive."

"You should see him with his shirt off," Gail murmured with a tiny laugh so that no one could hear, sipping at the water glass that Vellie had slid in front of her. "I never said he wasn't attractive," she said more audibly, "I'm just saying our personalities seem to rub the wrong way. He's anti-people and I'm pretty social. He's crabby as heck and I prefer sunshine to rain. There's something about us that just doesn't work."

"We'll see," Vellie said with an annoyingly knowing smile, snapping her gum for a third time. "But what am I doing, talking about dating during work hours! What can I get you two today?"

Gail ordered a ham and Swiss sandwich (hold the mustard, tomato on the side) with a bowl of chicken noodle soup. Carla held out for a bowl of broccoli and cheddar soup and a Caesar salad. Vellie left quickly to put in their orders.

Carla sipped at her lemon water, looking over her shoulder slightly. "I still think I would date him."

Gail crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "He can be a total jerk sometimes, but he can have a nicer side. You just have to drag it out of him. It takes a lot more time than you would like. He's not exactly the most trusting person on the planet."

"I always did like bad boys," Carla smiled and took another drink, "They're way more fun to chase after. And they're usually pretty good looking too."

Vellie passed by with a plate of tomato soup and a sandwich. Gail stopped her, pulling her note out of her pocket. "Could you give this to Seto for me? It's about the job he hired me out for."

Vellie's eyes shone teasingly. "Sure it is!" She said, drawing out the 'sure' in a rather annoying way. But she took the note all the same, sliding it in next to the plate of salad on her tray.

"What does it say?" Carla asked when Vellie had continued on to serve Seto.

"It's really a thank you note," Gail said, sipping her water. "You know, to thank him for not killing me and for giving me the chance and blah blah blah. Stuff like that."

"Is it true that you've been nominated for the "Journalist of the Decade" award?"

"Youngest person ever nominated!" Gail said proudly, "There are a bunch of other awards too. Apparently people are selling copies of the magazine on Ebay because they're all sold out everywhere else. Some people are making major money. I'm surprised people don't just read it on the website. It's all up there."

Carla shrugged. "Once you start a trend, people want the authentic thing, nothing less. So some people will want the actual magazine. They're obsessed."

Gail nodded in her direction as Vellie placed Gail's order in front of the blonde. Gail breathed in the scent of warm chicken broth, sighing in delight. She put a spoonful in her mouth, murmuring her thanks.

Vellie drew closer. "You sure it wasn't a love letter?"

Gail swallowed and gave a small laugh, fiddling with her half-moon glasses distractedly. "Are you kidding? Seto and me? It could never work."

* * *

Seto held up the note Gail had sent him. He had read through it over twenty times, and that was in less than a minute. He took another forkful of his salad. Well, despite the fact that he wasn't overly fond of the waitress, Seto had to admit the diner made some good food.

He read through the note again, having closed his laptop to read it, which in and of itself was a shock. He should probably have been working, but he shrugged it off. He might as well take a break. He would have an eight hour flight to Japan where no one would disturb his work.

_Dear Seto, _(it read)

_I wanted to say again how sorry I am for the way I acted. I pressed you for information that wasn't mine to share, and I wanted to say thank you for being so lenient on me._

_Thanks to you and your help, I have been nominated for three awards, including "Journalist of the Decade". You gave me a scoop no one can match. I'm the envy of every journalist from here to New York City. The article and interview were given rave reviews and it's all over the internet. _

_If you ever need anything in the media range, I'm your girl! I have connections now with a bunch of other companies and their free lance writers. So many people have come into my office since yesterday, it's insane! My calendar is packed, but I'll always have a spot for you if you need anything. My phone is always on! _

_Maybe if you and I have a break and you happen to be in San Francisco, we can grab a cup of coffee and catch up on the latest and the greatest. But next time, bring that little brother of yours, Mokuba. I'd love to meet him! And remember, if you need anything, call me!_

_Gail Addison Hanson_

Seto smiled ever so slightly and slid the paper into his pocket, opening his laptop again. He ate another mouthful of his sandwich as he went back to work. He had around five hours until he had to be at the airport, and that meant approximately four hours of work that could be done. If he was lucky, he would be able to spend the night with Mokuba, or even actually sleep in his own bed for once. But now was the time for work.

"You sure you and Gail aren't dating?" the black haired waitress asked as she refilled Seto's empty water glass.

Seto turned slightly, catching sight of the long, odd blonde hair a few booths back. Gail sat there, laughing over something the person in front of her had said. She chatted aimlessly on, bobbing her head ever so slightly back and forth in that strange way that Seto had noticed Gail usually did when she made a funny comment.

Seto thought back through his whole time with Gail. The young journalist had a habit of making him say and do things he had no intention of saying or doing. All throughout their time together, she had been pushing him to his limits of how social he could be, how open he could come to be. She wasn't one to take no for an answer. She was fiery in attitude, but had a calm side, though not one that managed to come up very often. She and Seto were almost polar opposites. Nothing they did seemed to be alike.

Seto snorted as he began to type, taking a long drink of the water. "Gail and I? After this? It would never work."

* * *

**(*sighs*) This took way too long for me to finish editing. I swear, I'm going to have to seriously up my game next time and actually _publish _faster. This whole editing thing is killer.**

**Anyhow, thanks for reading all the way through and putting up with my rather short second full novel. I have to admit, this one was rough, but it ended up actually turning out rather good. I'm hoping for a series to be set from this one, so hopefully Gail will be back. She's become one of my favorite OCs of all time, so I don't want her gone that fast!**

**In the meantime, I'll be finishing my original novel on Figment (which you can get to from my profile link) and then be starting on my Grounded sequel, which I've actually been brainstorming for lately. So hopefully that will be coming soon. But because of my mission trip, I'll be on a 7 week hiatus. Feel free to PM me though, I'm always able to answer!**

**Pixeljam, over and out!**


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